The Saint-Joseph Les Côtes is somewhat new in the Alain Voge range. This promising AOP on the northern Rhône attracts many top winemakers; there are excellent plots here that promise great things. The excellent vineyard site in Mauves, in the south of the AOP Saint-Joseph, was replanted by Domaine Alain Voge in order to have all the facilities needed to produce first-class Syrah in the future.
The cultivation is carried out according to biodynamic principles and the cultivation is certified organic. There is still a lot to be expected from this first-class steep location. Depending on the vintage, the Saint-Joseph Les Côtes is pressed with a proportion of 10 to 20% whole grapes; in the already rather robust 2019 vintage it was probably closer to 10%. After fermentation, the wine is aged in used barriques for approx. 15 months.
2019 was once again an excellent vintage, albeit stylistically different than 2018 or 2020. The drought led to a small harvest of very concentrated wines; despite the heat in summer, the harvest took place later than in the year previously, as the growth spurt only came with the long-awaited rain in September. This resulted in “wilder” wines than 2018, crisper than its rather charming predecessor. Both are certainly exciting and high-class.
In 2019 there was even less of this wine than usual, only 2870 bottles were bottled.
