Domaine Jolivet - St Joseph L'Instinct Rouge 2018

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The domain’s main production, raised in a combination of 228-liter barrels and 600-liter demi-muids with 5-7% of total being new. Years of plantation for the vines ranges from 1950s to the 1970s, and 50 to 70% is de-stemmed. Production averages 1,250 cases.

Domaine Jolivet Description

very dark robe; the bouquet, needs time, has a ripe blackberry foundation, a deeper note of beef stock, some mystery due to its sun-fuelled depth. There are Southern notes such as black olive tapenade. The palate is wide, sustained, has a thorough filling which barely budges as it goes, the finish firm, clamped, exerted. Its black juice is thick and persistent. It has the possibility of loosening, which it needs, so leave until mid-2021-2022 at the earliest. 13.5°. 20,000

drinkrhone.com

Decanter: 93 Points

"Blackberry and blackcurrant with a touch of blackcurrant leaf and bay. It has earthy, enjoyably textural tannins that suggest a proportion of whole bunch. Long finish, very authentic, and old fashioned in the best way. Fresh, restrained, highly drinkable and well balanced. A blend of nine parcels grown on granite at the foot of the slope. The old vine portion sees 30% whole bunch fermentation in stainless steel. Maturation in barrique and demi-muid, 6% new."-Matt Walls

A View from the Cellar: 91 Points

"Bastien Jolivet’s cuvée l’Instinct is their workhorse bottling of Saint-Joseph, with the vines having been planted between the 1950s and the 1970s and the wine raised in a combination of Burgundy casks and demi-muids. Between the two, about seven percent of the cooperage is new in any given vintage. Fifty to seventy percent of the bunches are destemmed for this bottling, depending on the vintage. The 2018 l’Instinct offers up a deep and youthfully complex bouquet of cassis, pepper, roasted meats, granite soil tones, tapenade and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and sappy at the core, with a still quite primary personality, fine balance and grip, ripe tannins and a long, very promising finish, with backend energy to burn. This is a young, structured and serious example of Saint-Joseph and it will need at least a handful of years to blossom, but it is going to be excellent when it is ready to drink!"-John Gilman

Jeb Dunnuck: 89-91 Points

The 2018 Saint Joseph L'Instinct is classic old school stuff. Lots of darker berry fruits, saddle leather, pepper, and earthy minerality emerge from the glass, and it hits the palate with plenty of fruit, good acidity, and ripe tannins. It's going to round into form nicely with just short-term cellaring and shine for 7-8 years or more.