Northern Rhône Syrah aficionados know that Saint-Joseph is capable of producing wines that are every bit as profound as those made across the river in Hermitage. The Gonon family certainly proved that, as did the legendary Raymond Trollat before them, and Sylvain Gauthier is poised to join their ranks.
For some of you, the vineyard designation on today’s 2017, “Aubert” will ring out as loud as any Grand Cru: this is a lieu-dit (named site) that was farmed for decades by Trollat, with some old Syrah vines that date to the First World War. When Trollat retired, the Gonons acquired a piece of Aubert, and so did Gauthier, a relative newcomer on the scene but obviously one who did his homework. Blessed with some of the best old-vine Syrah in the entire Northern Rhône, Gauthier’s Domaine des Pierres Sèches has risen through the ranks in what seems like record time, and to say that today’s 2017 blows away wines costing twice as much doesn’t really suffice; I simply can’t think of another Saint-Joseph that achieves this level of profundity at this price. Fathomless depth, incredible polish, textbook varietal character…let’s just say this wine has a lot to live up to, and it delivers. Whether you’re a keen student of Rhône Valley reds or just someone who loves delicious Syrah, this wine is a can’t-miss value of epic proportions.
I should also note that Gauthier previously offered this wine under the name “Saint-Épine,” which refers to the steep hillside on which the “Aubert” parcel sits. The Saint-Épine hill as a whole is referred to locally as “Trollat’s slope,” with an assortment of vineyards arrayed in a mostly southeastern orientation. The Aubert parcel, a hilltop site, was one of Trollat’s two most prized parcels, planted not just to Syrah but to some of the white Marsanne dating to the 1950s. Located in the village of Saint-Jean de Muzols, one of the six “original” communes in the Saint-Joseph AOC, the vineyard is rooted in decomposed granite soils topped with an exceptionally thin, grainy layer of schist.
Saint-Jean de Muzols, along with Mauves (home of Gonon), Tournon, Glun, Lemps, and Vion, sits directly across the Rhône River from the Hermitage hill—as the crow flies, they are incredibly, tantalizingly close. Gauthier shrewdly zeroed in on this area when he began acquiring old-vine parcels for his Domaine des Pierres Séches, which he founded in 2007. The name is in homage to the old, hand-built stone terraces (pierres séches = dry stones) that are strung across many of Saint-Joseph’s most steeply pitched vineyards, including Aubert. Although not yet certified, Sylvain is farming organically and doing everything the old-fashioned way in the cellar, and his focused, hands-on approach is immediately recognizable in his wines: They are very clean and polished, and well-extracted, but have palpable “soul” as well. As someone who’s been trained to recognize and celebrate regional wine “benchmarks,” I can tell you: I put my nose in a glass of this wine and there’s nowhere I could possibly be but the heart of the Northern Rhône.
Vines in Gauthier’s Aubert parcel average around 80 years of age, which goes a long way in explaining the immense fruit concentration and earthy, smoky bass notes in this wine. The grapes were partially de-stemmed (about 50%) and fermented on ambient yeasts in stainless steel, after which the wine aged for a year in used French oak barrels. In the glass, it displays a saturated ruby-black color moving to magenta at the rim, with a full-on Syrah riot going on when you dip your nose into the glass: aromas of blackberry, pomegranate, red and black plum, blueberry, violets, cracked black pepper, olives, incense, licorice, and graphite carry over to the full-bodied palate, the overall impression much more in line with top-tier Hermitage or Cornas than with most Saint-Joseph. Decant it about 30 minutes before serving in Bordeaux stems at 60-65 degrees, and try to remember the last time you paid this little for this much wine. It will be a difficult exercise, I assure you, and while there’s lots of pleasure to be had now, I think this wine is really going to strut its stuff in about 5-7 years’ time. There’s a lot of ‘baby fat’ on this wine that will turn to sinewy muscle with some bottle age, while the sappy primary fruit gives way to more spicy, earthy notes. This is what Northern Rhône Syrah is all about, so that goes for the food pairing as well: the homey, wintry recipe attached should be perfect. Enjoy!
