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Appellation · France

Saint-Joseph

A fifty-kilometre ribbon of vineyard down the right bank, ranging from serious hillside Syrah to very ordinary flatland wine.

Saint-Joseph AOCcontinentalmoderate
What to expect in the glass

Medium-bodied dry red with raspberry and blackcurrant, black pepper and a light savoury edge. Softer and earlier-drinking than Hermitage or Cornas.

About Saint-Joseph

Saint-Joseph runs along the right bank of the Rhône for about fifty kilometres, from opposite Côte-Rôtie down to below Hermitage. It is a long, thin, inconsistent appellation.

The original heart of it — the granite slopes around Tournon and Mauves — makes wine of real quality. An expansion in the 1970s added a great deal of flat land that never should have been included, and although a later revision removed some of it, the appellation still covers ground of very different worth.

Good Saint-Joseph is lighter and more immediately charming than Hermitage across the river: red and black fruit, pepper, a floral lift, and tannin that resolves within a few years.

What the name means

Legal name
Saint-Joseph AOC
Type
Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée / Protégée (AOC / AOP)
Set by
INAO
Recognised
1956
Regulates
Origin, plus grape varieties, maximum yields, minimum ageing.

The delimited area, permitted varieties, maximum yields, minimum alcohol, pruning and training methods, and in many cases minimum ageing. Administered by INAO.

Worth knowing

Red from Syrah, with up to 10% Marsanne and Roussanne permitted; white from those two varieties. The appellation was greatly enlarged in the 1970s, and a subsequent revision pulled some of the least suitable land back out.

Grapes

Wines from here

red

Northern Rhône Syrah

Cool-climate Syrah at its most savoury: black pepper, olive and cured meat over dark fruit, with firm structure at moderate alcohol.

Rules worth knowing

Confirmed in the EU register

Saint-Joseph is registered as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), file number PDO-FR-A0200, protected at EU level since 1973.

Article 107 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013

Specification published: Official Journal C, C/2024/5920, 1.10.2024 · Official Journal

Only the rules that change what to expect in the glass or on the label. WineHQ does not reproduce production specifications, and each entry carries the date it was last checked because appellation rules change.

The designation is confirmed above. WineHQ has not read this appellation’s production specification, so it publishes no yields, ageing minima or permitted-variety lists for it — those come from the document linked above, not from a summary of it.

What to eat, and how to serve it

Derived from this region’s signature styles. Each is listed separately, because a region does not have one serving temperature.

Northern Rhône Syrah

Serve at 16–18°C (cool room temperature).

Try with steak au poivre, steak or venison and game.

Where to go next

Places worth trying if you like this one — neighbours, rivals, and the obvious step across.

  • Hermitage — A single south-facing granite hill above Tain, and for two centuries the most expensive red wine in France after the Bordeaux first growths.
  • Cornas — A small suntrap of an appellation making the darkest, most uncompromising Syrah in the Rhône — red wine only, no white, no blending.
  • Condrieu — The spiritual home of Viognier, and the appellation that saved the variety from disappearing altogether.
  • Crozes-Hermitage — The Northern Rhône’s largest appellation, surrounding the Hermitage hill, and the affordable way into the region’s Syrah.

Sources

Sources consulted