Saint Joseph 2012 Domaine Jean Louis Chave 75cl / 13.5%

A bottle of 2012 Saint Joseph from renowned Hermitage producer Jean-Louis Chave. Saint Joseph is the second largest appellation in the northern Rhône appellation in terms of production, with around 920 hectares in production, around 90% of which is red produced from the Syrah grape variety.

'I was first presented with a wine from the granite and gravel Clos Florentin south of Mauves bought in 2009 which Jean-Louis still wasn't certain would be bottled separately ('I need to be very, very sure it is good enough', says JLC). Deep crimson with great life and zest. Still quite chewy and lots of distinction. I then tasted the wine from Dardouille north of Mauves on granite and clay which was extremely powerful with lots of straightforward fruit. It almost tasted rudely healthy! The final sample was from Bachasson with its decomposed granite on iron which managed to be both leathery and reminiscent of rose petals. He is clearly putting an enormous amount of effort into his St-Joseph. 17.5/20 points.' Jancis Robinson MW, 2013

This lot comes from the temperature-controlled cellar of a UK businessman and wine enthusiast, where it has been kept since purchase direct from importers.

This Saint Joseph 2012 sold at our online auction for £80