May 21 2015
St Joseph.
In 1987, I think it was, I was introduced to the first two French wines that I liked: Sancerre from the Loire and Crozes Hermitage from the Rhone, so my blog will start in the Northern Rhone valley, but will focus on the western shore, opposite Crozes and the town of Tain l’Hermitage, in the area known as St Joseph.
It’s a big wine area; stretching 65k from Vienne in the north to Cornas in the south. The epicentre is the granite hill of St Joseph, overlooking the town of Tournon and the village of Mauves. The hill is steep, so most of the vines have to be hand tended and harvested, thus helping to keep the quality high. The region sits opposite Hermitage and Crozes Hermitage, surrounding the town of Tain L’Hermitage, separated from them by the river Rhone.
Ange and I first went to Tain L’Hermitage in 1998. St Joseph didn’t figure in the visit then, as my horizon still had Crozes Hermitage at its centre. We visited the Cave Cooperative de Tain and walked across the suspension bridge to Tournon, but that was as far as it got. The Rhone is wide there and the drive to reach Tain is excellent; the motorway fast, sweeping across the river twice as you approach from the north to find yourself surrounded by vine covered hills, some bearing the name of the vigneron. A second visit in 2001 took us to Chapoutier where we bought Crozes Hermitage, but still no St Joseph.
In 2007, after many holidays in the south west, we changed location to stay in Marseille for the rugby world cup, with tickets for two quarter finals, so the journey down gave us another opportunity to visit the Northern Rhone. We stayed in La Pyramide in Vienne and had a bottle of Bernard Gripa’s St Joseph. It was fabulous; syrah at its best, not stewed, like some new world shiraz can be, great with food and just what we needed to fortify ourselves for the seemingly inevitable defeat of a poorly performing England by Tonga. Surprisingly England won, setting the scene for a quarter-final clash with Australia.
The next day we decided to call into M. Gripa’s cave. He had no red St Joseph left but we bought 6 white and 12 of his IGP; Cerise. The Cerise became our house for the holiday. After the visit we went to Le Chaudron in Tournon for lunch. Ange took over driving and we had a couple of glasses of a bottle of Bernard Gripa’s St Joseph rouge (see the note on safety, below). We paid and took the rest of the bottle with us, before going onto Chapoutier, for some more St Joseph, and to Valrhona for chocolate; Tain l’Hermitage has something for everyone.
Back home, I bought some of M. Gripa’s 2005 red from Vinetrail and later shared a bottle with colleagues from work at La Trompette in Chiswick.
By 2013 my sister-in-law and her husband had moved to the Minervois. We stayed with them over Christmas and made the decision that we too would eventually move to France. On our return to the UK in January we called in again to see M. Gripa and this time bought 6 of his 2011 red and 6 more Cerise. Things moved faster than expected and by summer 2014 we had bought the house in the village of Moux, in the Corbieres; hence the name of the blog.
Fast forward to 2015 and I’ve retired early, spending my time between the two houses, so my journeys have become opportunities to visit more winemakers.
In February I called in at M. Gripa on the way down. He only had red 2012 left, so I bought 6 and found room in the already full car. At midday I returned to Tournon and parked in the square; transformed since our first visit. I went to the restaurant, Le Chaudron, where I had the plat du marché, with a glass of St Joseph, that happened to be made by Pierre Gonon; one of the best makers in the region. I promised myself a visit on my next trip.
A word on Le Chaudron. This excellent and modest restaurant is popular for lunches for the people of Tournon. I’ve not had the pleasure of an evening meal but would love to, one day. Their wine list is exceptional, a showcase for the best St Joseph growers. I decided it should be my guide.
In March, Ange took me for my birthday on a very special visit to Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, Raymond Blanc’s restaurant. We paid a visit to the cellars and found M. Gonon’s wine on their list.
With all signs pointing to Gonon, I started to plan my next trip; in April. I emailed Pierre Gonon and he agreed to a visit at 17:30 on my journey down, however he had no wine for sale; he’s so good it’s already sold.
So, on the day, I had a whole afternoon in Tain and Tournon, Mauves and Cornas. I started in Cornas, seeking out Jean Luc Colombo, famous for Cornas. I tasted and bought 6 of his St Joseph; he only makes red.
From there I went to the Place Taurabole, Tain and parked, heading for Compagnie de l’Hermite; reasoning that if M. Gonon has all his wines locked up in orders, then the next place to look would be this pioneering company with its shop on the square. I met Georges Lelektsoglou and tasted some wines other than Gonon. Fortunately he had a few Gonon left; 7 red and 6 white. I only bought 3 red, partly because there was little space in the car.
I spent the rest of the afternoon touring the area, driving up the Hermitage hill, with its huge ‘Paul Jaboulet Aine‘ sign; Jaboulet was the 19th century founder of the brand that’s now owned by a Swiss company; unusual in that France is dominated by the independent winemaker, or the cave cooperatives, especially away from the most famous houses. No bad thing for variety and wines lovingly made.
At 17:10 I made my way back to Mauves and then spent twenty minutes trying to find Gonon. About to give up, I fortunately spotted his name on the house I had stopped beside, so at 17:29 I drove in.
Gonon, just back from his fields shook my hand, fetched a bucket, two glasses and a syphon. We went down into the cellar; two rooms of old oak barrels.
We spoke in Franglais, me starting in French and both of us genially using English at times. I was treated to a tasting of all his 2014, straight from the barrel; first, his IGP chasselas, then a still cloudy St Joseph blanc that tasted fresh and promised much for the future, before going onto the rouge; rich, full bodied and so fresh, I could have dunk it there and then. I like fresh wines, but it needs a lot more time; possibly up to 8 more months. To finish, M. Gonon poured from 3 three older bottles on a barrel; 2013 rouge, 2005 rouge, 1999 blanc, all fabulous, the white especially so.
With a promise to return in spring when he will have bottled his 2014, I left at 6:30, heading for the house in Moux, arriving three hours later. On the way I decided I must get some of M.Gonon’s white St Joseph.
On my return journey, two weeks later, I left the motorway just before noon and drove through Cornas, Chateaubourg and Mauves. At Chateaubourg a sign for Domaine Courbis; another grower, caught my eye. I went onto Tournon to Le Chaudron for lunch. Gigot d’agneu (Lamb) and another glass of Gonon’s rouge later, I consulted the wine list and found Courbis alongside Gripa and Gonon. So after lunch, I returned to Courbis to taste and buy six of their red and six white. I finished the visit to the region with a return to the place Taurabole, and the Compagnie de l’Hermite, where I bought two more of Gonon’s red, two of his white; Pres d’Olivier, and two of Bernard Gripa’s white.
Links;
Gonon and Gripa don’t have their own web sites. As M. Gonon said to me, they’re busy enough making wines. The Compagnie l’Hermite have set up pages for all the winemakers who they sell.
http://www.vins-courbis-rhone.com/en/
http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/web/Restaurant/Tournon_sur_Rhone-07300-Le_Chaudron-8794-41102
http://jaboulet.com/Website/site/fra_prehome.htm
Buying in the UK:
Vinetrail sell both Gonon and Gripa wines
A word on safety
If you’re tasting then drinking is not sensible, so either enlist a designated driver, or be prepared to simply taste and spit, or throw away into the crachoir.
lemouxetaire 