Quite a shame since he uses much if not all of the Juge vineyards as of 2016, and was farming some of them before.
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Well Arv linked my tasting report to his own tasting note, so you could’ve just read what my observations were instead of trying to guess what I thought of the wine, but I guess I can copypaste my summary of the wine here for clarity:
A pleasant but also very polished, supple and easy St. Joe that comes across as pretty approachable but without any real character. This is still somewhat recognizable for a warm-vintage Northern Rhône Syrah - ie. it doesn’t feel like a new world Shiraz - but compared with many other wines we tasted at the same go, it was pretty hard to get excited about this wine. It’s not a bland wine, but maybe a bit anonymous and boring in nature. A decent wine that feels overpriced for the quality at 42€. In our tasting the wine received only one point from the ten participants, making it finish on shared sixth (ie. last) place.
As we tasted these 2015 wines in 2022, they were 7 years old at the time. Not particularly old for Northern Rhône Syrah, but not young anymore, either. I didn’t feel like Tunnel’s wine showed much age, so no, I wouldn’t describe it as “not long-lasting”. Probably the wine will age for quite long, but as it was so soft and anonymous now, I don’t expect it to turn magically into something outstanding with sufficient age. Maybe something better than it is now, but still nothing exciting. There are simply tons of St Joes out there that are so much better than these Tunnel wines.
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Otto does that proposition hold true from 2016 forward, after I believe he integrated all of the old Juge vineyards? I’m guessing not since he had some of the vineyards anyway, and his winemaking is what it is, but worth the ask.
No idea as that 2015 was the most recent iteration of the wine I’ve tasted. I guess prime vineyards might help a little, but I still suspect that the bigger problem is the winemaking and perhaps viticulture, not the quality of the vineyards per se.
I once happened to visit La Derniere Goutte when Stephane Robert and Franck Pascal were pouring their wines there. I think I tasted three reds from Domaine du Tunnel and all were sort of muted and monotone, didn’t scratch my Rhône Syrah itch. Didn’t care for the Champagnes either, so could have been a root day 
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I think Arv’a sentence that I may be misreading is “I don’t get much flavor, depth or complexity,” which sounded to me like a dumb wine. You describe what I take you to find to be a perfectly OK wine with no particular interest or character. If that is what Arv means as well then the wine you both tasted is nothing like the 05 version, which I found too closed, even after 15 years to even rise to the level of uninteresting. In any case, my original surprise was that any decent st. Joe would be nearing the end of its life span at age 10.
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Maybe what I really meant to express was that I did not get deep flavor or complexity from that du Tunnel. Most other 2015 NoRho syrah at age 10+ are blossoming for me, so this was a little surprising. I still enjoyed and consumed the bottle, albeit over 3 days. (lest I sound like the 3DayWineReview guy I do decant into smaller vessels to reduce oxidation a little)
It’s like I went to a restaurant and ate the whole plate, but am saying I would not particularly go back. Price certainly contributes to that as WineSearcher suggests this is now ~$50.
It seems like these solar years are getting much more common so all the efforts I made to gather up this vintage, thinking it would be a rarity, don’t matter now. Compared to most of the thread contributors here, I tend to favor fatter, plumper wines.
I’m four years late to this thread. My experience with the village is mainly through two producers: Gonon and Faury.
The Domaine Faury Saint Joseph La Gloriette Vieilles Vignes is always so beautiful, with a violet floral note that I adore. These show beautifully when young and also seem to age very well. Their prices have remained remarkably low despite the quality, and I’m surprised they don’t get more attention around here.
Gonon, on the other hand, has been rock hard and painfully slow to develop in most vintages I’ve tried. Once they shut down after that brief period of youthful exuberance, they can be pretty unfriendly for decades in some vintages. A 2010 from a half bottle at about a dozen years old scared me away from opening any more of my Gonon.
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