Hirotake Ooka La Grande Colline Vin de France (Saint-Joseph) 2014

Japanese winemaker Hirotake Ooka makes tiny quantities of superb wine in Cornas. His journey into wine started with Guigal where he worked his way up to become Chief of Vineyard Management for their Hermitage and St Joseph vines. His weekends working with the legendary Thierry Allemand in Cornas inspired him to produce wines as naturally as possible, free of chemicals. This declassified Saint-Joseph shows the lighter side of Syrah, with an almost Burgundian-elegance. Ripe earthy notes of blackberries and raspberries, with a touch of pepper spice, there is ample acidity and a lightness of tannins which lends the wine a very soft and gentle finish.