On my way down to Vinisud I broke my journey to visit a bright young producer in St Joseph, Pascal Jamet, whom I’d had met the previous week at the AGM of the Les Cépages Oubliés in Montmélian. He is a very keen ampelographer and is the committee of this exciting group.

St Joseph AOC is spread over approximately fifty kilometres of the right bank of the Rhône to the north of Tournon. With just over 1200 hectares the production is mainly red, made with Syrah (with up to 10% Roussanne or Marsanne), and for the whites, Roussanne and Marsanne.

The youthful, wiry Pascal Jamet runs his 6 hectare estate with his wife Catherine having planted his first 1000 vines in 1994 while he was working as a ‘wine technician’ in Burgundy. During the next seven years he increased his vineyards to 3 hectares, still working as well to make ends meet.

Then in May 2001 he finally left his job – he and Catherine were now running their own business, producing 10,000 bottles that year. Many young winemakers who want to set up on their own account tend to also carry on working for someone else as their business develop. As Pascal says: “Everyone like us started as a garagiste!”

In 2008 they had built their neat winery and cellar opposite their house in the shadow of the ruined 11th century Tour d’Arras, surrounded by some of their terraced vines.

They now own 3 hectares of vines in St Joseph, as well as 3 hectares – they’ve increased their vineyard size since this poster in their tasting room was printed – in Catherine’s family property at Portes-lès-Valence in the Drôme department, several kilometres to the south. There they grow Syrah as well as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with Viognier for the white. These wines are labelled Collines Rhodaniennes IGP. (From 2010 IGP, Indication Géographique Protégée, is the new name for Vin de Pays.)

They haven’t stopped planting however. Seeking out small parcels of neglected, steep vineyards, they tidy them up and replant if necessary. One such plot was so overgrown they didn’t realise that it was terraced until all the shrubs and trees had been cleared. As Pascal told me: “I search for land that is impassable to tractors, where only humans and horses can work!”. On these challenging terraces he uses organic practices to further ensure the character of the wines.

We visited their neat cellar and winery where we tasted some barrel and tank samples. I enjoyed his white Saint Joseph, made only with Roussanne; “I don’t like Marsanne – too waxy and full-bodied in this region”, and the IGP white made with Viognier.

We then tried their three Saint Josephs, currently on sale.

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Grande Beliga 2010 Collines Rhodaniennes IGP

Deep ruby. Red fruits, plum, strawberry, attractive tannins, satisfying long. Very good.

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Saint Joseph 2010 Vignoble de la Tour d’Arras

Inviting ruby colour. Deep spicy red fruits, supple tannins, again long with a tiny touch of sweetness.

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Saint Joseph, Greenette 2010 Vignoble de la Tour d’Arras

Gorgeous juicy red fruit. Well balanced rounded, ripe tannins. Great mid palate, long, will age delightfully.

Produced from organically grown grapes from the steep terraced vineyards; in the cellar the wine was aged for 12 months in oak and was neither fined nor filtered before bottling.
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I enjoyed my visit to meet Catherine and Pascal to learn more about them, appreciate their hard work and, of course, their excellent wines. You can visit them in Arras sur Rhône but do make an appointment. http://www.catherineetpascaljametvignerons.com

As I continued my journey south I visited the organic shop, La Grange, on the outskirts of Saint Peray. As if Catherine and Pascal didn’t have enough to do working in their vertiginous vineyards, making wine and raising their three lively sons, they also part of a group of different producers running this farm shop.

Some of the organic delights in La Grange, Saint Peray

Each of the ten partners supplies different goods, such as meat, cheese, vegetables, fruit and, of course, wine with each partner taking a turn at running the shop.