P. J. Villa, Saint-Joseph (Rhône Valley, France) 2016

 Concentrated and deeply flavorful, but also marvelously pure and fresh, this is obviously fantastic northern Rhône Syrah regardless of the appellation…and I’d be willing to bet that even most professional tasters who know the region well would mistake this for Hermitage if tasting blind.  Aged very sensibly in 500 liter oak casks, a very sensibly modest 10% of which are new.  The fruit material is so manifestly fantastic that it doesn’t need any heavy-handed cellar treatment, and thank goodness it wasn’t subjected to any.  Not much made, and not easy to find…but you should try.  I’ve already bought it.