Incredibly, the mercury rose to a staggering 40 degrees in the UK last week. This will have sent many people hurrying to the supermarket for BBQ supplies. Whatever you have sizzling on the grill, a perfect wine to accompany those chargrilled flavours is often a beautifully crafted northern Rhône red. Enter Bastian Jolivet’s superb l’Instinct St Joseph 2017. Awash with plush black fruit, floral minerality and just a touch of the Rhône’s quintessential earthy, meaty, iron rich finish, it’s the ideal thing to offset the bold flavours produced when cooking over fire.
Bastien Jolivet is a rising star in the Rhône. He owns nine hectares of prime vineyards located on the steep, high, south-east facing granite slopes of one of the original St. Joseph communes, St Jean de Muzols. Bastien’s father always worked the land and produced the crop only to sell it to the local cooperative. After travelling and cutting his teeth working within France and abroad, Bastien finally returned home to the family domaine in 2014, his first vintage. Intelligent and passionate about what he does, Bastien is making startlingly brilliant wines. He has managed to mix precision and energy with authenticity and character at very affordable prices.
Read MoreThe 2017 Saint Joseph L'Instinct is a juicy, racy beauty that has a fresh, chiseled profile as well as ripe aromatics of mulberries, blueberries, plums, licorice, and ground pepper. Medium-bodied, with good acidity and plenty of underlying minerality, it's going to need 3-5 years of bottle age and should have 10-15 years of overall longevity. Jeb Dunnuck – 91+ Points
A blend of nine different parcels, Jolivet's 2017 Saint Joseph l'Instinct delivers a classic representation of Saint Joseph, with some whole-cluster influence and minimal new oak. Violets and raspberries mark the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is silky in texture, and the long finish picks up subtle spice shadings. Wine Advocate - Joe Czerwinski – 92 Points
Youthful purple. Potent, mineral-accented dark berry aromas show very good clarity and complementary suggestions of cracked pepper, olive and candied flowers. Silky and alluringly sweet, offering concentrated blackberry, cherry and violet pastille flavors that become more lively on the back half. Shows impressive balance and sharp delineation on the vibrant finish, which is firmed by smooth tannins. 15% whole clusters. Vinous – Josh Reynolds – 92 Points