Saint Joseph Blanc Fruit d’Avilleran

2019
France
Rhône

New! 100% Marsanne aged on the fine lees for eleven months in oak, 10% new. 70% of the vines are forty years-old and the balance are ten years-old.

94 points
"Acacia and honeysuckle notes leap to the fore, followed by lively yellow plum and white peach flavors. Long finish has a quinine thread that adds energy and tension. Nicely done. Drink now through 2027. 1,003 cases made, 60 cases imported."
James Molesworth,
Wine Spectator
2021
90 points
"The 2019 Saint-Joseph “Fruit d’Avilleran” Blanc from François Villard is comprised entirely from Marsanne, with more than two-thirds of the vines fully forty years of age. The wine is barrel-fermented and raised in casks, but with only ten percent of the oak new. The 2019 comes in at 13.5 percent octane and delivers a ripe, complex bouquet of pear, almond, a touch of fresh pineapple, a complex base of soil tones, just a whisper of buttery oak and a topnote of gently musky floral tones. On the palate the wine is bright, ripe and full, with a good core and soil signature, sound framing acids, good focus and grip and a long, complex and well-balanced finish. This has fairly gentle acidity and so will probably be at its best drunk in its relative youth. Good juice. 2022-2027."
View from the Cellar

SKU/Code: 
DB3913-19
Product Line: 
Wine
White
Varietal: 
Marsanne