Domaine de Gouye Saint-Joseph | 2021

Domaine de Gouye produces less than 600 cases of wine, which is basically nothing. Led by Phillipe Desbos, the Domaine takes its name from a site located high above the village of Saint-Jean de Muzols. Planted mostly between the 1950s and 1970s, this Syrah is a time warp of old vines, individually staked on steep hillsides and bound by ribbons of straw tied by the family’s hands. From Phillipe’s rustic stone house to his 19th century vertical press, this is as old-school as it gets, but the wines are far from rustic when you taste them. Whole cluster fermented and aged in neutral barrel his current Vieilles Vignes bottling squeezes out every drip of the Northern Rhône with exotic dark fruits and sweet-and-smoky spices. Powered by the thrilling combination of unforgiving terroir with low-yielding fruit, this is a masterpiece for its price. The only problem is that there’s hardly any! ~Allegra A