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2023 Saint-Joseph Blanc “Clef de Sol”
Domaine Jolivet
Jolivet’s white Saint-Joseph is an entirely different animal, made almost exclusively from the beguiling Marsanne grape, which reaches its loftiest potential in the granite soils of this part of France. Round and generous on first blush and then wound up, energetic, and fine-grained on the finish, this thoroughbred wine is sculpted for the cellar but still provides a lot of immediate gratification. His 2018 was one of the highlights of my travels on the wine route last year.
—Dixon Brooke
| Wine Type: | white |
| Vintage: | 2023 |
| Bottle Size: | 750mL |
| Blend: | 95% Marsanne, 5% Roussanne |
| Appellation: | Saint-Joseph |
| Country: | France |
| Region: | Northern Rhône |
| Producer: | Domaine Jolivet |
| Winemaker: | Bastien Jolivet |
| Vineyard: | Planted in 1960-70, 2016, 2023; 2 ha |
| Soil: | Granite |
| Aging: | Aged for 12 months in 228L oak barrels, 10% of which are new |
| Farming: | Organic (practicing) |
| Alcohol: | 13% |
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About The Producer
Domaine Jolivet
Our latest discovery from Saint-Joseph comes from the talented hand of young Bastien Jolivet, working his family’s vineyards in the hamlet of Saint-Jean-de-Muzols. Bastien inherited the family domaine in 2014 from his father, who sold the grapes from their five hectares to the local cooperative. But Bastien set his sights higher, eager to turn the family’s holdings into domaine-bottled, terroir-driven Saint-Joseph. In only his first decade running the winery, Bastien expanded the property to 13 hectares in total, which he works organically. The winery sits at the base of a very steep and terraced hillside where many of his Saint-Joseph vines sit. In the rare moments when Jolivet is not outdoors tending his vines, he shows a magical touch in the cellar. He has made huge strides since he began in 2014 and his wines are getting better every year. He is poised to be a rising star of the appellation.
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Where the newsletter started
Where the newsletter started
Every three or four months I would send my clients a cheaply made list of my inventory, but it began to dawn on me that business did not pick up afterwards. It occurred to me that my clientele might not know what Château Grillet is, either. One month in 1974 I had an especially esoteric collection of wines arriving, so I decided to put a short explanation about each wine into my price list, to try and let my clients know what to expect when they uncorked a bottle. The day after I mailed that brochure, people showed up at the shop, and that is how these little propaganda pieces for fine wine were born.—Kermit Lynch