"The 2022 Saint-Joseph “Poivre et Sol” from François Villard comes in at an even thirteen percent octane. Monsieur Villard’s vineyards are in the northern end of the appellation in the towns of Chavanay, Saint-Pierre-de-Boeuf and Ardoix, but on steep hillside vineyards of decomposing granite. The wine is fermented with indigenous yeasts and raised in two to four wine casks for a year prior to bottling. The wine’s bouquet is precise and excellent, hopping from the glass in a complex blend of cassis, back raspberries, grilled meats, pepper, coffee bean, a superb base of stony soil tones, woodsmoke and a topnote of whole cluster sweet stem tones. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, focused and complex, with a good core of fruit, superb soil transparency, 83 moderate tannins and impeccable balance on the long, complex and light on its feet finish. The intensity of fruit here, without undue weight, is most impressive. Fine juice that will age very well indeed. "