Noticeably more serious, yet still showing the charming nature of the vintage, the 2011 Saint Joseph Les Royes exhibits pretty, perfumed notes of spring flowers, underbrush, crushed rock, toast and lively raspberry fruit. Spending a full 16-18 months in 25% new oak, this pure, elegant and beautifully textured effort represents a superb value and should be purchased by the case. This was a stacked lineup from this top-notch estate, and I was able to taste through the lineup multiple times, once while visiting the domaine, and again in a larger lineup of wines from each appellation. They never failed to impress. Located in the tiny town of Chateaubourg and covering roughly 50 acres in Saint-Joseph and 20 in Cornas, most of which are ideally situated, Courbis is now run by Laurent and Dominique Courbis, with Laurent running the cellar and Dominique managing the vineyards. Despite the high quality, these wines remain reasonably priced, and also see good distribution in the US. It’s an estate that needs to be on every Northern Rhone lover’s short list. Importer: Russell Herman, Berkeley Heights, NJ; tel. (908) 771-9082