2020 Domaine Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph Blanc Les Oliviers
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Tasting notes
Certified organic. Tasted blind. Rich nose. Just a bit heavy and slightly coarse. Is it simply too old? It’s certainly long. Quite a bit of alcohol. Not flattered by being shown after the previous wine of this pair (Tahbilk Viognier 2011). BIG! (JR)
Critic scores
James Lawther MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Blended with 5% Roussanne, the 2020 Saint Joseph Les Oliviers Blanc shines on all accounts, and for a hot vintage, it holds onto a beautiful sense of purity and freshness. Golden apples, almond paste, brioche, and crushed stone define the bouquet, and it's medium-bodied on the palate, with an Hermitage-like sense of structure and concentration. Give bottles a year in the cellar and enjoy through 2032.
Just blended the day before my visit, the 2020 Saint Joseph les Oliviers Blanc is roughly 80% Marsanne and 20% Roussanne. For only the second time in the domaine's history, the grapes were picked in August (the other vintage where this happened was 2003), yet the wine retains a terrific zesty freshness that balances its full-bodied nature and honeyed pear and melon flavors. It should drink well on release and for the next several years.
100% Syrah. Cask sample tasted at the domaine. Bright and pure with bags of energy. Minerally freshness but the palate rich and silky with a spicy element that persists. Tannins present but finely honed. Dense but almost weightless with that minerally freshness and feel. Less power than 2019, in which the alcohol was almost 1% higher. (JL)