2020 Pierre Gaillard Saint-Joseph Rouge, Northern Rhone

The palate engages immediately, the red fruit bright, a little savoury, the sweetness appealing, like drinking red fruit gums. It’s a well textured, open St Jo that will please early on, the tannins making no intrusion. From late-2022. 2030-32

John Livingston-Learmonth drinkrhone.com

By all accounts, 2020 in the Northern Rhône saw a return to the classic, elegant styles of the recent past. “It was less solar than 2018 and 2019 and less dramatic than 2017”, said Gaillard of the vintage. Despite posting some of the Domaine’s earliest harvest dates on record, this seasoned grower explained that a gradual ripening cycle and splendid conditions at harvest ensured he had a beautiful crop of pristine fruit to work with. This year's Saint Joseph is singing with dazzling fruit and succulence—fans of this wine are in for a treat. 
“Let’s start with the conclusion. The reasoning can wait. 2020 is a very good vintage in the Northern Rhône. It is seductive, full of silken pleasure, offers wines that will grace any table, wines set to show well from an early age.” 

John Livingstone-Learmonth
 
Gaillard’s Saint-Joseph is drawn from several parcels located in the high country of Malleval, Chavanay and Limony in the far north of the appellation. The vines lie closer to Vienne and Condrieu than to Tournon-sur-Rhône in the south. Gaillard’s steep, cool soils have plenty of granite, which contributes to the mineral cut of this perfumed and vibrant Syrah. At the same time, varying altitudes and aspects offer Gaillard a variety of blending options and provide one of the keys to the impressive consistency of this wine.
 
As usual, each parcel was destemmed and vinified separately, aging was mostly in used Allier and Nevers barrels for 18 months and the wine was bottled unfiltered. This is an immediately engaging, sleek, detailed and fragrant St-Jo with an array of red and blue fruits, exotic spices, floral perfume and graphite aromas. The palate flows freely, with lovely freshness allied to the silken textural depths and fine-grained tannins expected of this grower. It finishes lovely, long and scented and almost blurs the lines between Pinot and Syrah. And, while it’s the kind of vins de plaisir that screams don’t wait, it has everything in place to suggest it is a ten-year prospect.