Wine Advocate: 94+ Points
Considerably more concentrated and tannic than the main cuvée Faury's 2019 Saint Joseph Vieilles Vignes comes from 40- to 60-year-old vines in Chavanay. It's medium to full-bodied and loaded with black olives and blackberries with a rich velvety-textured finish that lingers a good long time. Just give it some time in the cellar. The fit Lionel Faury was hobbled by a severe leg injury sustained while water jousting?he's a locally acclaimed champion?but he gamely showed me about his small cellars high above Chavanay. The domaine consists of only about 12 hectares total including a few small parcels in Côte Rôtie and 3.5 hectares of Condrieu while the bulk of the holdings are in Saint-Joseph around Chavanay. These are classically balanced elegant examples of their appellations that impress more their elegance and harmony than for sheer power. The Condrieu and Saint-Joseph Blanc are made in a combination of tank and barrel using some acacia wood and no bâtonnage to avoid too much "gras" while the reds from Saint-Joseph have incorporated a bit more whole clusters recently as Faury finds that the stems add complexity and the process seems to lower the overall alcohol levels. With the concentration and high sugar levels in the grapes "2019 was an easy year in the vines but a tough year in the cellar" he said. The Saint-Joseph Vieilles Vignes one of the stars of the cellar comes from 40- to 60-year-old vines but this year I was even more impressed by Faury's Côte-Rôties. The vines have reached a certain level of maturity now and the class of his Côte Brune sites in le Plomb l'Arselies and Fourvier shines through.
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