2007 Domaine Vincent Paris St. Joseph- France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (10/10/2009)
nose: good and balanced nose with dark red fruits, bits of olives, smoke, and some meaty tones, and peppery tones. Very good depth on the nose with classic northern rhone tones
taste: really good medium/full body with well balanced tones of black pepper, olives, dark red fruits with some black cherries and a touch of incense as it opens up more. Really fleshes out more on the palate as it spends time in the glass. The tannins aren’t really all that big or chewy and there is good medium acidity, but is more in a supporting role
overall: a real quality st joseph. I like how full this becomes as it fleshes out and really comes together. This is really great stuff at the price, its very hard to get a northern rhone that brings this for about $20. Comes off as more needing a good decant rather then more aging as the tannins and acidity speak more towards an earlier drinking wine, but a couple of extra years certainly won’t hurt this wine (90 pts.)
Coincidentally I was at the cellar door only last week and Vincent was kind enough to let us taste a number of his wines including his very first vintage.
This guys wines are brilliant and it is well worth a visit to Cornas.Bought two cases of his St Joseph 2007 and one case of his Cornas Granit 30 for a total of Euro 280 !!
Glad you like them. Always nice to give a sense of the place. Actually Vincent is a genuine garigiste with his cellar in the back garden of his house with kids toys amongst the winemaking equipment!!
The view from one of his Cornas vineyards down to the village of Cornas
keith, if you have more photos please post them, they’re great
I’ll be sure to be on the lookout for his cornas if the st joseph is any indication of the quality coming from him. And like you pointed out in that picture, that’s some awesome terroir he’s working with
These are the cement tanks he matures his wine in.Reckon they look a lot better than those steel things so many large guys use.Real basic hand crafted organic winemaking—similar in fact to my own winery mullineuxwines.com of South Africa
Vincent with a friend in one of his vineyards.Photo taken at about 500 feet so you can appreciate what hard work it is to work these vineyards.Tends to be the young winemakers who work the highest!!
This is my winemaker Chris Mullineux,s notes on the wines
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“This morning we were up early and headed to Vincent Paris (who is actually based on the outskirts of St Peray). He is also a relatively new producer, but is making waves for all the right reasons. We tasted through his current releases, which started with his 2007 St Joseph Rouge (€12 per bottle). This is his entry level wine, and what a revelation! Easily the best St Joseph I have ever tasted. It is packed with delicate floral and spicy perfume, and is both full and fresh on the palate, and only 12,5% alcohol. We then tasted his 2007 Cornas Granite 30, which followed the same thread as the St Joseph - beautifully perfumed and full, but fresh on the palate. This had an added creamy texture, which was tempered by firm, but in no way obtrusive tannin. This is one of those wines that are so poised that it seems they will provide a great drinking experience when opened at absolutely any time in their evolution. Next up was the 2007 Cornas Granite 60 (for those who don’t know, the numbers 30 and 60 refer to the angle of slope the vines are grown on). This continued in the same vein as the previous two wines but was markedly tighter and less expressive – probably due to a greater percentage of new wood, though this was not obvious. A lovely wine, but one for laying down and avoiding. Finally, Vincent poured his 2007 Cornas La Geynale. This is a single vineyard bottling from a 100 year old vineyard planted just after phylloxera. Though it is still very finely textured, this is more like the Cornas we expected – dark, rich and brooding. There is very little spice and floral character showing at present – more iron and cherry pit, though once again this wine has the balance and poise to age for quite some time to come. What a range of wine! We purchased 2 bottles of St Joseph, Granite 30 and La Geynale, but in retrospect wish we had done the sensible thing and purchased a case of each, as the St Joseph is already finished (at lunch!).”
You can find them in Chicago, imported by Maverick Wine. Don’t know about national distribution. FWIW, I very much enjoyed the '07 Cornas Granit 30:
2007 Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 30- France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (9/26/2009)
Blood, iron, pepper, acid, and tannins. I expect this will be much better after a few years when everything integrates and deepens, but it’s purity is really nice.
Tonight, with dinner, I drank a lovely bottle of the St. Joseph. Keith, for me the body is a little on the lighter side but otherwise your TN nails it! This wine is a real revelation for St Joseph. I don’t think I’ve ever had a syrah meant for early drinking that has as much character as this wine. BTW, this wine came from K&L in S.F.; they’ve been flogging Vincent Paris for a couple-three vintages now, but this is the first one I’ve tried. I’m looking forward to the Cornas cuvees.
