An impressive showing, the 2019 Saint Joseph Sainte-Epine features aromas and flavors of blueberries and black cherries, plus hints of violets, peppery spice and black olives. It's full-bodied, but it carries its labeled 15% alcohol well, with no sign at all of alcoholic warmth, while supple tannins give a welcome sense of gentle structure and add a softly dusty feel to the long finish. Tasted twice, with consistent notes.

Matured half in new oak, the other half in second use barrels, the 2018 Saint Joseph Sainte-Epine offers up scents of cedar and vanilla set against a backdrop of ripe, dark fruit and spice. Full-bodied, rich and velvety in texture, it delivers all of the goods—concentrated fruit, ripe tannins, expensive oak—combined with the restrained power and refined elegance of its south-facing granite slope. Drink it over the next decade.

The 2017 Saint Joseph Sainte-Epine comes from a couple of vineyards planted in 1981 on weathered granite soils geologically identical to those found in Hermitage's Les Bessards. Crushed stone, salted licorice and pencil shavings accent black cherries and black olives, while the full-bodied palate is velvety but structured, ripe and warm but firm and mouthwatering, with at least a decade of aging potential. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes.

Impressively dark and saturated in color, the 2016 Saint Joseph Sainte-Epine showcases its granite origins, boasting scents of crushed stone on the nose, along with hints of plummy fruit and grilled meat. It's medium to full-bodied, framed by firm yet ripe tannins and classy notes of pencil shavings that linger through the long, silky-textured finish.