2014 Saint-Joseph Rouge Vignes de L'Hospice Guigal

Masses of toasty oak delivering mocha, espresso and brown spices in abundance across dark cherry and blood plum fruits. The palate has a very plush, fluid and spicy appeal. Gently peppery dark plum fruits roll even and deep. Needs time to settle. Try from 2022 and enjoy beyond.

Deliriously fragrant with scents of violets, cracked pepper, blueberries and black cherries, the 2014 Saint Joseph Vignes de l'Hospice is a plush, silky wine that doesn't show any overt sign of the 30 months it spent in new oak. This medium to full- bodied wine should drink well for at least a decade.

(aged for 30 months in new oak barrels) Bright purple. A complex, expansive bouquet displays aromas of ripe black and blue fruits, vanilla, incense and cracked pepper, and an exotic spice nuance emerges with aeration. Concentrated yet lively on the palate, offering appealingly sweet boysenberry and candied violet flavors sharpened by a suggestion of cracked pepper. Deepens and spreads out impressively on the long, supple finish, which shows just a hint of velvety tannins.

Red Solid, with an alluring core of lightly steeped plum, anise, blackberry and boysenberry flavors that rolls through, picking up dark tea and warm fruitcake hints along the way. Shows a light echo of apple wood on the finish. Drink now through 2027. - J.M