DOMAINE DU MONTEILLET ST JOSEPH ROUGE, CUVEE DU PAPY
Wow! This was the star at a recent dinner party, for very good reason. Northern Rhône as it should be, concentrated and satisfying.
St Joseph, Northern Rhône
2020
14% ABV.
100% Syrah
75cl
£40.95
Price includes VAT
Tasting notes:
The purity of Northern Rhône Syrah and the delicate perfume of violets shine through. Stunningly juicy, fine, impressively concentrated dark fruit nose seasoned with toasty oak and the distinctly classic Northern Rhone character of smoky bacon.
About the wine:
Named after Stéphane’s father, Antoine, when in 1989 he became a grandfather or ‘Papy’, this wine has been lovingly created from a selection of the best grapes, from the best vineyards, using the best barrels.
The grapes are harvest manually into small wooden boxes to prevent grape damage before reaching the winery. The picked grapes are sorted, selecting only the best berries, in the vineyard and secondly in the winery before destemming.
Fermentation is closely controlled, keeping the temperature low and the period long (3-4 weeks) and only naturally occurring indigenous yeasts are used.
After fermentation, the St Joseph spends 24 months in 600 litre oak barrels known as 'demi-muids'.
About the producer:
Stéphane Montez' family have been growing grapes in the Northern Rhône for ten generations and today have vineyards in Condrieu, Côte Rôtie and Saint-Joseph.
After formally studying winemaking, tenth generation vigneron Stéphane, not content with simply growing grapes as his forefathers had done, travelled to south Africa, Australia, California and even England to experience winemaking outside France, before returning to the family's vineyards to make wine from the grapes they had expertly tended, and which truly express the French terroir of the prime sites they own.
The winery was founded in 1732 and Stéphane, the young, talented and dynamic winemaker, took over the family vineyard in 1997.
Food match:
The Cuvee du Papy is a classic match for roast red meats, either a good shoulder of lamb or a hefty piece of beef. Like a lot of Northern Rhône reds, it will work well with hard cheeses too and I might also try it with good quality dark chocolate of at least 80% cocoa solids, nothing too sweet.
