St. Julien-en-St. Alban Côtes-du-Rhône Syrah

2017
Texier, Éric
France
Rhône

100% Syrah. From Texier's younger, i.e. 35-40-year-old vines on granite soilis in the very warm St-Julien en St-Alban vineyard area (on the western side of the Rhône at the southernmost edge of the northern Rhône Valley). The vines are organically farmed and harvested by hand. The wine is made identically to its Brézème Syrah counterpart: whole clusters are fermented with native yeasts in concrete tank with a short 5-7-day maceration; there is no extraction, only a submerged cap for a gentle infusion of color and flavor; aging was for 20 months in concrete vats without racking in 2017; bottling is without fining or filtration and with a tiny dose of 10-15 mg. of sulfur.

92 points
"Opaque ruby. An expansive bouquet evokes ripe red and blue fruits, potpourri, allspice and olive paste, and a smoky mineral nuance builds in the glass. Shows impressive depth and energy, offering sappy blueberry, cherry, spicecake and violet flavors supported by a spine of juicy acidity. Displays very good energy for its heft and finishes on a subtly tannic note, displaying sharp definition and firm, minerally thrust."
Josh Raynolds,
Vinous Media
, April 2020
91 points
"The “regular” bottling of Saint-Julien-en-Saint-Alban from Éric Texier is his younger vine cuvée, as these vines range from thirty-five to forty years of age. They are entirely petite serine syrah, with the wine aged for seventeen months in cement vats prior to bottling without fining or filtration. The wine offers up a superb and youthful bouquet of cassis, grilled meats, bonfire, black olive tapenade, pepper, dark soil tones and dollop of shoe polish in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and beautifully transparent in personality, with a lovely core of fruit, fine-grained tannins and a long, complex and very promising finish. This is an absolutely superb bottle in the making, but it could do with a few years in the cellar to blossom. A great value! 2023-2045."
John Gilman,
View From The Cellar
, November 2020

SKU/Code: 
DB1024-17
Product Line: 
Wine
Red
Varietal: 
Syrah
Farming Type: 
Organic