This was very grapey and tasted more like Mourvèdre than Syrah, not much in the way of savory elements but it was tasty nonetheless.
What does the “hedonism” refer to?
The importer here does not import the same regular St. Joseph label sold in the US, but rather the regular (non-VV) St. Joseph they sell here is labelled hedonism. They’ve told me it’s the exact same juice sold in the US under the regular label, but I’ve always been suspicious and haven’t bought.
I guess hedonism is the non vv.
Speaking of wines I could never buy because of the name…
Why would they even use the term for this wine? It’s not that.
I find the different label thing in the US interesting. Levet does the same thing.
Having gained a recent interest in Levet, this confused me a lot!
The opposite can be said of Emidio Pepe, who used the same label but actually released a different bottling on the US market… (they have changed this now because of the confusion).
Edit bad info 
The la Gloriette labeling is the equivalent for the European market…
And Charvin, for their Cote du Rhone. The US/Rosenthal bottling is called “Le Poutet.”
Noticed this when I visited Faury and later Levet. The Cote Rotie at Faury was Reviniscence where in the US I believe it’s Emporium. The Faury domestic bottlings have a colorful contemporary label. At Levet, Agnes said La Peroline (which has a screen printed label in a totally different design) is the same wine as La Chavaroche.
Just two examples, I think this is consistent across the entire lineup of both.
All the labeling differences might be an action taken to help their importers/distributors. Those agents can trademark the names, and prevent gray market imports, keeping a price differential between the US and Europe.
Kermit Lynch has always seemed to have a portfolio that was harder to find through alternative channels.
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So is the Hedonism bottling the same as the St. Joseph in the US market? I’ve had the 2017 Faury St. Joseph and VV bottling many times over the past year, and in my experience I find it to be very typical St. Joseph. I would say that it isn’t as savory as the 2016, but has a little more fruit and all the other great characteristics of the 2017 vintage. I feel both bottlings are year in and year out great QPR’s and expressions of a more classical styled St. Joseph.
I had this recently and found it very savory and quite stern. My wife was not a fan. On the other hand, the 2016 was very “hedonistic” and to me delicious. Very more-ish. So more-ish in fact, I drained the bottle rather quickly. I’m wondering what the VV will be!
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It’ s the Weygandt bottle and this name was agreed upon by Laurent Charvin and Peter Weygandt as a way of tracking grey market Charvin in the US as those bottles would not be labelled Le Poutet. It’s the exact same wine.
I’ve had both the branded and the ‘domestic’ Le Poutet, and could not tell the difference, other than the price. The latter usually comes in later, after its being closed out in Europe.
The idea that some US importers make a special barrel selection - Kermit Lynch, North Berkeley etc - I don’t know what that difference is like. There’s probably something to it, but it would be a bit harder to test.
So one question: is the Faury St Joe VV not really from old vines? is that just an KL moniker?
There is both a “regular” St Joseph, and a VV, both Kermit imports. And they are noticeably different each year, so there is a difference. Not sure if that can be attributed to old vines, I just assume so. It’s not a well defined term, to my understanding.
According to the KL website, the Saint Joseph Rouge comes from vines planted between 1979 and 2007, the VV from vines planted between 1937 and 1976. As Alan indicated, they are quite different in a given vintage.
-Al
Best to go straight to the source, thanks as what I was told is obviously incorrect. .9 ha is not much for VV. If they are low yielding that would be a few hundred cases.
The Kermit Lynch website has profiles of most (all?) of the producers they import, very informative.
-Al
It wouldn’t surprise me if it it’s that little. Faury only makes around 7,000 cases total according to the site.