2018 Saint-Joseph

The demand for Yves Gangloff’s wines has hit a fever pitch, while production, from just over seven hectares of vines, remains relatively small. There is minimal exportation here - as little as 5% of the total output. Virtually all of Gangloff’s wines are sold to private clients, so they are rarely found in restaurants. Since many of these wines wind up in the secondary market, it’s easy to understand what has happened to the prices. That’s a real shame because, over the last decade, Domaine Mathilde et Yves Gangloff has become one of the best addresses in the region for reds and whites that age effortlessly. Gangloff has steadily been moving to larger format barrels to minimize the oak impact on the wines, especially straight out of the gate.

There’s more freshness to 2019 than 2018, Yves Gangloff believes. “There’s a structure underneath the 2018s that is a bit like 2015 but less extreme,” he said. On the other hand, “while 2019 has weight, it isn’t extreme and there’s really good acidity to keep the wines alive and the fruit precise.” Gangloff’s wines have become quite difficult to track down in recent years, thanks in part to his small production but also because this domaine is approaching cult status in many markets, especially France, where it serves a rabidly loyal clientele with standing orders, usually for allocations of just a few bottles.