Pierre Gaillard Saint Joseph Rouge 2005

Pierre Gaillard began his career working for both Vidal Fleury and Guigal before he struck out on his own in 1985. Since then both his reputation and his vineyards have expanded, mainly in the St Joseph, Cote Rotie and Condrieu appellations, but now also including Cornas and an estate in the south-west; Domaine de Madeloc; where Banyuls and Collioure are produced.

Today Gaillard is also part of the Vin de Vienne project with Francois Villard and Yves Cuilleron. As the review by Jacqueline Freidrich above shows, Gaillard is now reckoned (in France) to be amongst the Northern Rhone’s best winemakers.

The style of red wine produced here is rich and deep, with clean, pure fruit characters and excellent ripeness and intensity. There is a core of seductive, glossy fruit that makes the wines immediately appealing and yet they have the savoury tannins, spice and fresh acidity that screams Northern Rhone. The whites are beautifully floral and refined examples while the Banyuls are a delicious adventure in sweet wine and the best examples we have come across.

Pierre Gaillard Saint Joseph 2005 comes mainly from vineyards located in the communes of Chavaney, Malleval and Limony. The soils here are lighter with plenty of granite, which tends to produce well-structured wines. The individual vineyard parcels are kept separate and partially destemmed before being crushed. Each parcel is then vinified separately “to bring out its own individuality” to quote Gaillard. This allows more choice when the time comes to assemble the wine. Ageing is in 20% new Allier and Nevers barrels for 18 to 20 months. Bottled unfiltered, this is a pure, rich, polished Syrah with excellent density and length. It should also age well over 3-8 years.