Saint-Joseph or St.-Joseph is a

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and Amer ...

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical bo ...

'' (AOC) in the northern Rhône wine region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Though the appellation covers the largest amount of land, it is second in actual size under vine to Crozes-Hermitage, an appellation with which it shares much regarding style and prestige. St.-Joseph is primarily a

red wine Red wine is a type of wine made from dark-colored grape varieties. The color of the wine can range from intense violet, typical of young wines, through to brick red for mature wines and brown for older red wines. The juice from most purple gr ...

region, but also produces a white wine. The red is produced predominantly from the

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

grape, but AOC regulations allow up to 10% of

Marsanne Marsanne is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhône region. It is often blended with Roussanne. In Savoie the grape is known as ''grosse roussette''. Outside France it is also grown in Switzerland (where it is known as ...

Roussanne Roussanne is a white wine grape grown originally in the Rhône wine region in France, where it is often blended with Marsanne. It is the only other white variety, besides Marsanne, allowed in the northern Rhône appellations of Crozes-Hermitage ...

. The white wine is made exclusively from the latter grape varieties.

History

Originally known as Vin de Mauves, mentioned in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, the wine from St.-Joseph was a favourite in the French court of Louis XII (1498–1515) who owned a vineyard in St.-Joseph known as Clos de Tournon. The first official record of vineyards in St. Joseph occurs in 1668. St. Joseph is a saint, (venerated as the protector of scorned husbands, and was the foster father of Jesus Christ), and the appellation is named from a vineyard that was first named for that saint. This particular vineyard (called simply Saint Joseph) was originally owned by Jesuits and is now owned by the famous winemaker

Guigal Guigal, formally ''Établissements Guigal'', is a winery and négociant business situated in Ampuis in the southern part of the Rhône region in France. Guigal produces wine from appellations across the Rhône region, but is particularly noted fo ...

. The modern-day St.-Joseph begins its history around 1916, but did not gain its own AOC until 1956. Before 1969 it was a small appellation covering less than 100 hectares, but in 1971 it was decided to expand the appellation to it present size. In 1994 the potential size of the appellation was capped at 3000 hectares. Originally it was a wine based on pure Syrah, but since 1979 it has been permitted to include as much as 10% white grapes.

Climate and geography

St.-Joseph, along with the rest of Northern Rhône has a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...

that differs from its southern neighbour, which has a more

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

. Winters are wet and marked by the cold '' le mistral'' winds that can last into the Spring. The appellation is the second largest appellation in the Northern Rhône covering 920 hectares. The classic part of the appellation begins in the south around the villages Mauves and Tournon. This part of St.-Joseph lies fairly high and these fields are regarded as the best of the appellation. 50 km to the north, when the appellation approaches Cote-Rotie, the soil is more rich and the wines differ from the classic southern wines.

Grapes and wine

Similar to the Northern Rhône in general,

is the only red grape allowed in St.-Joseph. AOC regulations allow for the addition of up to 10%

and/or

, both of which are white varietals. The white wines can be made from any amount of Marsanne and/or Roussanne grapes. Many of the red wines are meant to be consumed "while waiting for Hermitage and Cote-Rotie to mature."Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' JP Bøger - JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. , p. 99 The best wines are found in the south and the vines in this region can be upwards of 100 years old.Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' JP Bøger - JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. , p. 98 Generally the wines are defined by the young fruit that makes them very drinkable while young.

History

Climate and geography

Grapes and wine

References

See also