Gérard Courbis Saint-Joseph Vieilles Vignes 2023

If you’re looking for the perfect French red with a bit of everything, then this is it. Saint-Joseph sits in that sweet spot - not too heavy, not too light, just right. And when it’s made from old-vine Syrah on granite soils, you get exactly what you want - a smooth, savoury and peppery style of red. Courbis are based in a village called Mauves - the historic heart of Saint-Joseph going back to the Middle Ages. Vin de Mauves once graced the finest tables around Europe - if you ever read Les Misérables, the Bishop of Digne even gives a bottle of it to the enigmatic Jean Valjean. A French contact of mine discovered Courbis 20 years ago at a tiny local fair - they were just getting going on their own, having fallen out with a very prestigious neighbour who they used to sell grapes to. He couldn’t believe the quality of the fruit, which comes from 80-100 year-old vines on steep granite slopes, and he’s been helping them sell their wines ever since. A few years back, this was all sold on allocation so we wouldn’t have had a hope of getting in here. So should get some while you can, before all that changes again!