2020 Paul Jaboulet Aine Le Grand Pompee Saint Joseph 750 ml

On our last trip to the Northern Rhône, the most striking view came at the top of Hermitage Hill. 

The most striking discovery came at the bottom.

That’s where we tasted Paul Jaboulet Aîné’s Le Grand Pompée Saint-Joseph. Poured alongside their iconic Hermitage La Chapelle at Vineum, Jaboulet’s tiny wine bar in Tain l’Hermitage, it’s the rare bottle that delivers all the dark fruit, leather, and character of the world’s greatest Syrah-growing region—but without demanding a huge price.  

When we talk about drinking Northern Rhône Syrah every night, this is the wine we have in mind. Deep purple in color, showing textbook aromas of blackberry, plum, cracked peppercorn, and charcuterie, it’s got a full-bodied palate of black fruit, dark chocolate, and licorice, all held taut by ripe, thickset tannins, and a kiss of crisp minerality. 

Paul Jaboulet Aîné is one of the Rhône Valley’s most iconic domaines—not to mention one of the world’s masters of Syrah—and when you put your nose in the glass of this Saint-Joseph, it's easy to imagine the vertiginous, rock-strewn slopes from which it comes. Dotted with wild herbs and assaulted nearly constantly by the gale-force mistral winds, this hardscrabble region is instantly recognizable in Le Grand Pompée’s energetic, sinewy body, with its fruit- and oak-driven finish. But the warm, dry, and early 2020 vintage imbued the wine with a gorgeous ripeness that sometimes eludes the region.

No bottle sums up our access better than this one. A prize from our trip to the Northern Rhône, this is a stellar value from an iconic producer.