Similar aromas and flavors with slightly more noticeable new oak characterize the inky/purple-tinged 2010 St.-Joseph La Sensonne. While displaying terrific ripeness, it is a more backward effort that will benefit from 2-3 years of cellaring and should age well for 15+ years. The new oak component gives the wine more structure, vanillin and a more modern style than its siblings.
The tall, competent Jerome Coursodon is the fifth generation of his family to exploit the hillside vineyards of St-Joseph. They began producing wines in the 19th century, becoming well-known in French wine circles in the 1930s. The majority of their vineyard holdings are on the hillsides above the village of Mauves, where the well-known Chave family has been making wines since 1472. The Coursodons also own parcels situated further north, above Tournon and in the most northerly sector of the appellation, St.-Jean de Muzols. By the way, if you see any of the four 2009 cuvees on your retailer’s shelf, snap them up as they are magnificent wines. Those wines have serious rivals in both 2010 and 2011.
Pretty much hors classe and out of this world is the 2010 St.-Joseph Le Paradis St.-Pierre. Notes of charcoal, graphite, creme de cassis, kirsch liqueur, spring flowers, pen ink and lead pencil shavings jump from this full-bodied, massively endowed yet incredibly elegant and pure St.-Joseph. Possibly the greatest wine yet made by Jerome Coursodon, it is one of the finest St.-Josephs I have ever tasted. It should age effortlessly for 10-15+ years.
The tall, competent Jerome Coursodon is the fifth generation of his family to exploit the hillside vineyards of St.-Joseph. They began producing wines in the 19th century, becoming well-known in French wine circles in the 1930s. The majority of their vineyard holdings are on the hillsides above the village of Mauves, where the well-known Chave family has been making wines since 1472. The Coursodons also own parcels situated further north, above Tournon and in the most northerly sector of the appellation, St.-Jean de Muzols. By the way, if you see any of the four 2009 cuvees on your retailer’s shelf, snap them up as they are magnificent wines. Those wines have serious rivals in both 2010 and 2011.
Expect its rating to rise considerably once it is in bottle. The 2011 St.-Joseph l’Olivaie is made from 35- to 57-year-old vines and is aged in a combination of small oak, 500-liter demi-muids and tank. This is an opulent, powerful, fruit-laden effort with lots of glycerin as well as a heady perfume of spring flowers, forest floor, black currants and black cherries. Full, lusty and seductive, this beauty will drink well for a decade.
The tall, competent Jerome Coursodon is the fifth generation of his family to exploit the hillside vineyards of St.-Joseph. They began producing wines in the 19th century, becoming well-known in French wine circles in the 1930s. The majority of their vineyard holdings are on the hillsides above the village of Mauves, where the well-known Chave family has been making wines since 1472. The Coursodons also own parcels situated further north, above Tournon and in the most northerly sector of the appellation, St.-Jean de Muzols. By the way, if you see any of the four 2009 cuvees on your retailer’s shelf, snap them up as they are magnificent wines. Those wines have serious rivals in both 2010 and 2011.
Livingstone-Learmonth: “An important address. The vineyards are spread across good sites”; Tanzer: “Jerome Coursodon is quietly making some of the most expressive and energetic wines of the Saint-Joseph appellation, along with Gonon and Jean-Louis Chave”; Robert Parker: “One of the finest young producers in the Northern Rhone is Jerome Coursodon. His 2008s are competent efforts, but his 2009s are among the most prodigious St.-Josephs of the vintage”. “Coursodon has become one of the top producers of St.-Joseph [since 2001], and qualitatively, his 2005s are the equivalent of his freakishly ripe, concentrated, and opulent 2003... All of these wines merit serious attention. 2003 St.-Joseph La Sensonne ranks alongside ... Guigal’s finest cuvees”
