2011 Saint-Joseph Les Serines rouge Yves Cuilleron

Parker-Dunnuck 91 points: A step up on the richness scale, the 2011 Saint Joseph Les Serines is medium-bodied, seamless and also finesse oriented, with fine tannin, beautiful purity and a classy, ​​focused finish. Exhibiting impressive berry fruit, earth, and violet-styled aromas and flavors, this beauty will drink nicely over the coming 7-8 years. Yves releases two cuvees from Cornas, and I found the quality consistent in 2012, yet preferred the Vires release by a fair margin in 2011. There are three Saint Joseph cuvees in red: the Les Pierres Seches, which comes from sand and granite soils around the town of Chavanay; the L'Amarybelle, which comes from high density, terraced plantings of older vines; and lastly, the Les Serines, which comes from the oldest vines of the estate and is the only cuvee to see new oak. 2013-2021

Galloni - Raynolds 92 points: Opaque ruby. Fresh blackberry, cherry, pipe tobacco and potpourri on the intensely perfumed nose. Offers appealingly sweet black and blue fruit flavors that put on weight and become spicier and smokier with air. Shows impressive power and thrust on the finish, which emphatically echoes the blackberry and floral notes. This is all old-vines serine, many of them planted in the 1930s.