I have known Guy Farge and before him, his cousin Elizabeth Faugier for 24 years, when I was looking for the perfect Saint Joseph, just before moving to the United States. I knew I had found that when I first tasted Elizabeth Faugier's wine. She does not produce anymore, but Guy's production is probably even better than what Elizabeth's. These wines are from grapes raised mostly on the Mont Saint Epine, a location with a superb reputation in the Saint Joseph appellation. The vines are planted on terraces and Guy uses a horse to work the fields.
A saint Joseph is a wine produced on the right bank of the Rhône river, just below the Côtes Roties, and until Saint Peray. We are there in the northern Rhône Valley. The Syrah is original from here, and a Saint Joseph is 100% Syrah. Syrah in these latitudes develops all its potential and is vastly different than in the Southern Rhône, let alone elsewhere in the world. We are looking here for freshness, aromas of violette, eventually black currant.