That Was Fast - My New St Jo Producer Got 92 Points - I'm Selling a Brace of 2018 St Jos - Incredibly Elegant Style Under $35

Jean-François Jacouton
 - Formerly at Rhone Star Domaine Durand
 - Distinctive Mineral, Elegant Style
 - He's Got the Stuff
 - Terrific Terroir
 - Great Wines at the Start of the Price Curve

2018 Is An Epic Vintage

2018 Jean-François Jacouton St. Joseph "St. Epine" 
 - Likely the Top Terroir in St. Joseph 
 - Nose: So Floral and Complex
 - Huge Granite, Cassis and Red Licorice
 - Palate: Super Elegant and Refined Red Fruits
 - Very Pure and Elegant; Great Freshness
 - Minerality, Linearity and Definition Are Remarkable
 - Sadly, Very Limited
  -92 Points

2018 St. Joseph Sortilege 
 - Nose: So Floral and Complex
 - Huge Granite, Cassis and Red Licorice
 - Palate: Black Cherry, Blackberry,  Intense Floral Overtones
 - Terrific Complexity
 - 92 Points

The Style
The style here is mineral focused wines with a stunning drinkability factor and gorgeous purity. He is working the correct way. Honest and thoughtful and it shows in his wines.

As per the drill at Fass Selections I'll start with the flagship wine that is also the rarest. The 2018 Jean-François Jacouton St. Joseph "St. Epine" can be had for $36.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. No tariff! This is extremely limited. What a follow up to the brilliant 2017 debut. This is a magnificent value and such a stunning wine it almost made me stand up straight.

The nose is what got me first. OMG is this floral. So complex. So crazy. Huge granite, cassis and red licorice. Huge black cherry and complex iodine aromas as well. The purity and hugeness of the aromas were remarkable. Earth, granitic, unreal aromas.

The palate is bonkers. Juicy and so complex and very, very pure. Wonderful. Sappy and very dense

with super elegant and refined red fruits. So so pure. Great fruit. This is stunningly red fruited as Epine is known for with lovely vivid licorice on the finish. So nice. Terrific inner mouth aromas and a spine of minerality that runs throughout. The minerality, linearity and definition of this wine is remarkable. It has insane freshness and this is a baby now and has enormous potential. The balance of this wine is off the charts. The structure is dense and also lithe. The fruit is sweet and velvety and caresses like nothing else. Sensual, sauvage and seductively drinkable. So delicious. But make no mistake this will age 10-15 years. The length of this wine is dazzling. Palate is juicy and complex with wonderful elegance and terrific high quality tannin. So fresh and that dazzling length again. Terrific concentration and purity. This is totally showing out of its mind. VERY LIMITED. The 2017 got a 92 by Josh Raynolds and his review is below. 2018 is better!

"Inky ruby. Deep-pitched aromas of ripe black and blue fruits are complicated by suggestions of cola, licorice and smoked meat. Sweet and broad in the mouth, offering blackberry, cassis, candied violet and cracked pepper flavors that show serious heft but welcome energy as well. Finishes on a youthfully tannic note, with excellent clarity and minerally persistence." 92 Pts, Josh Raynolds, Vinous (2017)

Next up is a sick value. Such an incredible value. These wines will only get more expensive as Jean-Francois' fame grows and his scores rise. The 2018 Jean-Francois Jacouton St. Joseph "Sortilage" for $31.99 a bottle on a 4-pack is a stunner. He makes three St. Joseph reds and all three in 2018 are knockouts and such insane values that I have to sell all three. It would be vinous malpractice not to.

The nose is distinctly mineral with some tweed jacket and lovely forestry tones. Some iodine, black cherry fruit, black berry fruit, olives, and so much granite. It comes across as super complex aromatically. The color also is a such a brilliant and deep violet as you'll see as more of the 2018,s keep rolling in. The aromas come across as dynamically fresh and energetic. Some licorice, violets and loads of smoke and again those minerals. Red berry, fresh moss, huge granite, and just wafting minerals as is to be expected here. Just stunning aromas.

Palate is very stoney and very complex with drop dead purity and vivid raspberry fruit. It's densely packed but also so elegant and finesse-driven as well with a feather light weight to it. The freshness is wonderful and it wakes you up with its vibrancy and energy. Man does that fruit soak up on the palate with dazzling purity. Loads of blackberry, black cherry, black raspberry, blueberry and loads of spice flood your palate. This drinks like a $50 wine. Loads of spice, minerals and fruit on the complex finish. It's so rich and perfectly ripe with stunningly velvety and melty tannins. The wine is so great. The finish is so long that it's noticeable and you really can't believe it's still going but the lift on the finish is really remarkable. Another insane St. Joseph value for no scratch. You'll be upset you didn't but more.The 2017 got a 92 by Josh Raynolds and his review is below. 2018 is better!

"Bright violet. Fresh, spice-accented black and blue fruits and a pungent floral note on the highly perfumed nose. Juicy black raspberry, bitter cherry and spicecake flavors show excellent clarity and turn sweeter with air. The supple, persistent finish displays sharp detail and pliant tannins that meld smoothly with the wine's sappy dark fruit." 92 Pts, Josh Raynolds, Vinous (2017)

2018 Jean-Francois Jacoutin St. Joseph "St. Epine" - $38.99 

($147.96 4-pack) 

2018 Jean-Francois Jacouton St. Joseph "Sortliege" - $33.99 ($127.96 4-pack) (*Including Tariff of $3.30)