2023 Domaine Jocelyne et Yves Lafoy, Saint-Joseph Rouge “Préambule” Northern Rhône, France.
This Lafoy Préambule Saint-Joseph Rouge 2023 is dark purple/garnet hued in the glass with fine florals and bramble on the nose, leading to a stylish medium bodied palate with black currant, blueberry, boysenberry, damson plum and cherry fruits, along with subtle mineral tones, forrest floor, old cedar, anise, raw peppercorns and those lingering violet notes. Sitting just below their Côte Rôtie, this Saint-Joseph sees a full de-stemming of the all organic grapes and a long cool maceration and fermentation, lasting close to three weeks before being racked to mostly used French oak barrels for 12 to 18 months. The Lafoy’s are looking to show off the terroir and produce wines of transparency and elegance, which this pretty Saint-Joseph provides in spades and with lots of charm. These Lafoy wines are a recent discovery and I find they much more interesting with food and allowed to open up a bit, and this one definitely was much better with a selection of grilled meats, adding a more serious dimension with more concentration of fruit and contrasting savory notes coming through.
The Lafoy domaine, was founded in 1993 by husband and wife, Jocelyne and Yves Lafoy, and the winery has grown from a humble one and a half acres in the Côte Rôtie appellation to eight acres in their first 20 years. The winery now also has vines in Condrieu, Saint Joseph, which I have talked about here, and Collines Rhodaniennes where the grapes for their Syrah I previously reviewed are from. The Lafoy’s wine continues to be focused on freshness, minerality and finesse, though complex and serious offerings. They also have vines in the Collines Rhodaniennes area, once a Roman outpost and wine growing area, is a zone that was largely forgotten until the 1990s when the popularity of Northern Rhône Syrah surged and winery started looking for new sites to plant. Lafoy’s vines are set on pure granite soils with a cooler exposure, giving fruit that can produce beautiful blue toned flavors at moderate alcohol, but with good ripe generosity as seen in their latest 2023 wines. I first tried the Lafoy Côte Rôtie a couple of years ago and it was good, but these more recent vintages seem more compelling and I look forward to seeing what the next set of wines are like here.
($39 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive