Saint-Joseph or St.-Joseph () is a

French wine French wine is produced throughout all of 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. French wine traces its history to th ...

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée In France, the ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (, ; abbr. AOC ) is a label that identifies an agricultural product whose stages of production and processing are carried out in a defined geographical area – the ''terroir'' – and using ...

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

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. 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 - (red grapes.) 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 fro ...

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 ...

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 a ...

Roussanne Roussanne () is a white wine grape grown originally in the Rhône wine region in French wine, France, where it is often blended with Marsanne. It is the only other white variety, besides Marsanne, allowed in the northern Rhône appellation d'Orig ...

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

History

Originally known as Vin de Mauves and mentioned in Victor Hugo's ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...

'', the wine from St.-Joseph was a favourite in the French court of

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

(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. The appellation is named from a vineyard that was first named for

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

. This particular vineyard 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 northern 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 to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

that differs from its southern neighbour, which has a more

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

. 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