Julien Pilon Saint-Joseph Rue des Poissonniers Rouge 2019
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A dark, winey style, with a focused beam of black currant preserves and steeped black cherry, laced with anise, mineral and sweet spice details. The long, focused finish lets the mineral edge echo nicely.
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2018-
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Although a native to the region, Julien Pilon was not from a family of vintners. Studying winemaking at the university, he worked passionately producing wines in regions from Roussillon to Spain. After extensive travel, Julien returned to his birthplace of Chavanay, determined to make a name for himself.
His tutelage with Pierre-Jean Villa, Patrice Porte and Pierre Gaillard of Côte-Rotie fame, cemented his belief in his talent and Julien Pilon began to plant his roots. In 2010, located on the right bank of the Rhône Valley with Condrieu terroir, Julien started crafting a range of micro-négoce wines from local sources.
Over 10 years later, with the Domaine developed, a team created and winery built, Pilon is producing some of the most exciting Rhône wines of genuine flair and class, attracting enthusiastic attention from noteworthy critics. Creating his first wine in his parents garage, Julien focused on producing wines that respected the identity of their terroir, offering both concentration and finesse.
“I want to show how essential the notion of terroir is. My work in terms of harvest selection, vinification and aging goes in this direction, respecting the identity of each wine.”
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Spanning the longest stretch of river in the northern Rhône—from Condrieu in the north, to Cornas in the south—the heart of St.-Joseph lies directly across the Rhône River from Hermitage. While its soils are basically the same as Hermitage: granite, supplemented by sand and gravel, its east facing slope receives less sunlight than Hermitage, which causes less overall berry ripening on its Syrah vines. However, some of the best of them can rival any fine expression of Hermitage, Cote-Rotie or Cornas with concentrated black fruits, dark spices, crushed rock and violets. A general advantage of the region is that its Syrahs typically don’t need as much time in the bottle compared to a Cote-Rotie or Hermitage and are much easier on the bank account!
A textbook St.-Joseph red is firm with a core of minerality that is enhanced by savory and peppery qualities. Aromas and flavors of smoke, olives, herbs, and violets are common; its wines are dense in red and black fruit.
St.-Joseph is also a source of fine northern Rhône white wine. Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne grow well here and can be blended or made into single varietal wines. St.-Joseph whites are full and silky with citrus, pear and pineapple flavors and a rich bouquet reminiscent of honeysuckle, toasted nuts, spice and caramel.