J. Vidal Fleury
Syrah
Saint-Joseph
Ampuis, France
2000
12.5%
$19.98 -- Grapevine Market, Austin, TX
Color: Medium garnet
Nose: Violets, caramel, raspberry, thyme
Body: Light to medium
Front: Raspberry jam
Middle: Pepper, Horsey poo
Back: Orange, oak
Burns clean?: Yes
Cap: Cork
Vidal-Fleury is a French company owned by the Guigal family, and so this wine unsurprisingly has a lot of shared ground with Guigal wines. It's a classic southern Rhone profile, with a floral and earthy nose and a not-huge body with a delightfully diverse palate. Splendid with onion soup, and a complex, thought-inducing wine.
Drink this next to a Marquis Philips if you'd like an extraordinary demonstration of the flavor variations you can get in the Syrah grape.
