Emmanuel Darnaud, Saint-Joseph (Rhône Valley, France) 2017

 Showing the character of the vintage, this is big, dark, sappy and strong, with lots of muscle and structure but not all that much perfume at this early stage in its development.  I have little doubt that it was in a rather dumb state when I tasted it in the Rhône in April, but even if I’m wrong and it doesn’t show more primary aroma as it evolves, the advent of tertiary aromas from bottle aging will certainly turn this into a wine with enough aromatic interest to offer an appealing introduction to the existing fireworks of flavor.