The elegant 2010 St.-Joseph displays slightly higher acidity as well as a marginally fresher style. Medium-bodied, with abundant raspberry and black cherry fruit, it, too, should drink nicely for 5-7 years. (Not yet released)Director Guy Sarton de Joncquey continues to upgrade virtually every wine being produced at Vidal Fleury. Working from a sparkling new facility, this property is moving toward earlier bottling to preserve the wines’ freshness and fruit, and quality is clearly on the upswing, as evidenced by issue #197’s report on their extensive negociant business in the southern Rhone.Importer: William Deutsch and Sons, White Plains, NY; tel. (914) 251-WINE

The 2010 St.-Joseph is a medium-bodied, crisp, more mineral-dominated wine revealing good ripeness, attractive raspberry and black cherry fruit, and fresh acids. Drink it over the next several years. As I wrote last year, the Vidal Fleury enterprise, which is in large part a negociant business owned by the Guigal family and run with considerable precision by Guy Sarton-de-Joncquey, seems to be going from strength to strength with a bevy of wines offering some of the most reasonable prices of any Rhone Valley negociant. Both Guigal and Vidal Fleury consistently produce excellent rose wines. Last year, the 2010 GSM, a Southern Rhone cuvee that is bottled early to preserve its freshness and fruit, was introduced. Vidal Fleury has also done exceptionally well with their selections from Vacqueyras. Cote Rotie has always been one of Vidal Fleury’s specialties and they have done exceptionally well in 2010 and 2011 with the Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde as well as the limited production, single vineyard offering, La Chatillonne. Importer: William Deutsch and Sons, White Plains, NY; tel. (914) 251-WINE