2010 Saint-Joseph

Wine Details
Place of Origin

France

Saint Joseph

Northern Rhône

Color

Red

Grape/Blend

Syrah

Reviews & Tasting Notes

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Drinking Window

2025 - 2035

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Pulling my car into the driveway of brothers Jean and Pierre Gonon means I’ve arrived. Gonon is what Saint-Joseph is all about: elegance, classicism and a level of terroir-driven transparency that is hard to beat. The 2022 red is stunning, firmly placing itself at the top of the appellation's quality pyramid. It’s always a rare treat to taste their Chasselas, a wine that’s virtually impossible to find on the market because of its tiny production—often fewer than 1,000 bottles. Jean Gonon reported healthy yields of 38 hl/ha for the 2023 reds, noting that during the August heatwave, sugar ripening stalled at times, but phenolic ripeness continued. This progression helped the tannins achieve full maturity by harvest. The next generation of Gonons is also beginning to contribute, with Pierre’s son Louis joining the domaine just a week before my November visit. To finish our tasting, Jean Gonon poured a wine blind, which yours truly nailed on the first attempt—the magnificent 2010, now entering its prime drinking window.

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According to Pierre Gonon, "the white wines in 2011 have good richness and structure, and are actually a bit like the 2005s. They're lighter and brighter than the 2010s, with more delicacy and feminine character." He calls 2010 for red wines "a trong, intensely mineral vintage that combines power and energy. It operates at both the high and the low end of the scale in flavor." The Gonon brothers, who use a lot of whole clusters, often as high as 100%, prefer to bottle their wines after roughly 12 months in barrels, followed by a rest of up to 3 months in tanks "for better harmony." Pierre said that he thinks that the 2009s are starting to look a bit like the 2003s in terms of richness "but with more brightness and red fruit and no roasted character, which is the potential weak spot of '03." We talked a bit about the geology of the southern sector of Saint-Joseph and Gonon said that the soil of their hillside vineyard in Tournon, which they rent from the legendary Raymond Trollat, "is a softer granite and gives more elegance than the denser soils of Mauves, which provides structure." At the end of our tasting we tried Gonon's 2008 and 2009 Saint-Josephs, which were a study in contrasts, with the older wine showing appealing aromatic complexity and bright red fruit character and the 2009 offering far more depth but even more vivacity. I'd drink the '08 over the next five years or so and wait at least that long before digging into my '09s. (Chambers St. Wines, www.chambersstwines.com; Joli Vin, www.jolivin.com; Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, www.kermitlynch.com)

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As I was checking out an extremely ancient-looking upright cask in this chilly cellar Pierre Gonon pulled out a flashlight and showed me the date of its manufacture, which had been carved into a horizontal bracing plank: 1802. The Gonons purchased it from Guigal when the Grippat estate was being broken up and they still use it. "We're Ardechois, not Bordelais," Pierre cracked, "so we never throw anything away and we use everything until it's broken, maybe even after that!" As usual, I found some of the purest expressions of syrah of my annual Rhone trip in this cellar, with the 2009 vintage offering a bit more richness than I usually expect here. "That's the vintage, which has made a very strong mark," Pierre noted. Gonon showed me a number of samples from 2011 that had finishesd their malos and it looks to be a superb vintage in the making, by the way. The Gonons' wines all age extremely well, as evidenced by some older whites and a red that I tasted at the end of my visit with Pierre. The 2003 rouge is shockingly fresh, not just for an eight-year-old wine, but for one from one of the hottest vintages on record. It's still on a slow aging curve and, to my taste, at least five years away from reaching its window of maturity. As for the blanc, the '07 is rich and fleshy but has a solid spine of minerality that sharpens and lifts it on the back end. The surprisingly pleasant 2002, from what Gonon called "the most difficult vintage ever" here, is fully mature, with good depth, a honeyed, nutty character and suggestions of orange pith and tarragon. Assuming you have any, it's time to drink up. (Chambers St. Wines, www.chambersstwines.com; Joli Vin Imports, www.jolivin.com; Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, www.kermitlynch.com)