Live 24-Seven -Wining & Dining
Patricia Terry Wine of the Rhône Valley
Patricia Terry of Patricia Terry Wine has, according to several industry experts, one of the finest noses in the country, her list of quality clients is absolute proof of this. We are delighted she is writing for Live 24-Seven; wonderful comments received regarding her features hint that you appreciate and enjoy Trish’s style...
As we head into winter, there is a part of me that quite looks forward to cold nights, log fires, comfort food (all food comforts me!) and the reassuring sound of cork being pulled from a good, deep, rich, robust red wine. There are many contenders for 'wine of choice' on such a night, but never far from top on my 'hit list' is a Saint-Joseph from the Rhône Valley.
Saint-Joseph can be difficult to place geographically. It has been called the Chile of the Rhône Valley and it is often confused with Saint-Julien in Bordeaux. One village in the region is called Champagne! There must have been numerous visitors disappointed to find that the wines there contain no bubbles and that Champagne (the region) is a few hours drive further north. That said, Saint-Joseph has a very loyal and growing band of followers, especially when looking for precisely made, terroir-orientated wines sold at a ridiculously fair price.
Saint-Joseph is in the northern part of the Rhône and is home to indisputably glamorous appellations such as Hermitage and Côte-Rotie, wines which have a very defined sense of place because they come from tiny vineyards – a single hill in the case of Hermitage, two neighbouring slopes for Côte-Rotie.
On the other hand, Saint-Joseph stretches across about 40 miles of the right bank of the Rhône, taking in more than two dozen towns and villages in two 'Departments' – the Ardèche and the Loire. Its northern limits are only about half an hour from Lyon, yet in the South, across the river from the city of Valence, the region has the sunny influence of the Mediterranean.
Although long, Saint-Joseph is extremely narrow – a bit like a supermodel! – but rather than a single contiguous vineyard, it is a collection of vineyards, mostly within view of the Rhône, but also detached from it and each other, more like a collection of crus of the tributaries of the Rhône. It is because of the somewhat strung-out geography of Saint-Joseph that it is sometimes compared
to Chile, but whereas South America is known for bold, fruity wines, Saint-Joseph produces tightly focused reds, and the whites have more in common with the wines of Burgundy than their New World counterparts.
As always, there are exceptions! It is fair to say that one reason for possible confusion about the appellation is the range of styles and quality levels it produces. At the low end, Saint-Joseph can be relatively light and can be seen as more of a quaffing wine, often found as the 'house wine' in many Lyon cafés. But at its best...oh my…it can rival the wines of its more prestigious neighbours, usually at a fraction of the price, and come from the steep, terraced vineyards which are found tucked away between the flat vineyards alongside the Rhône and the plateau just above. These better vineyards have much more in common with Côte-Rotie and Hermitage.
Wine is often said to be a reflection of its terroir (a whole other can of worms/discussion, to be opened on another occasion!) and in the case of Saint-Joseph, the terroir consists in part of a thin, low-yielding soil that barely covers the tough, granite banks of the Rhône. Making wine here is hard work and expensive. To illustrate, Cave de Saint-Desirat, one of the largest producers in the area, have stated that a hectare of terraced vineyards in Saint-Joseph required 450 hours of labour each year, compared with 180 hours for a vineyard in flatter areas.
Years ago, making wine from smaller, more select areas as above, was just not profitable for many producers in Saint-Joseph and as a result, many of the terraces were abandoned, but in more recent times, as we wine drinkers come to
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