The name comes from a lieu-dit of Tournon called Saint-Joseph, which the town's Jesuits already used for the wines of Tournon and Mauves in the seventeenth century. The appellation was created in 1956 on six communes around Tournon and extended in 1969 to twenty more, reaching Chavanay in the north. That extension took in flatter ground on the plateau and valley floor.

In the 1980s planting moved off the slopes onto flatter, easier land. The growers then worked with INAO, the French appellation authority, to halve the delimited area, from 6,800 to 3,400 hectares, and bring the vines back to the historic hillsides. Syrah grows mostly on granite and mica schist, around Mauves and Glun and north of Tournon at Lemps, Saint-Jean-de-Muzols and Vion. The white grapes are planted mainly on limestone near Châteaubourg and Guilherand-Granges, and on loess.

Red Saint-Joseph must contain at least 90 percent Syrah, with up to 10 percent Marsanne or Roussanne among the vines. The reds are fine and supple, with fruit, spice, liquorice and undergrowth over silky tannins, and suit medium-term keeping. The whites, mostly Marsanne, are dry and full, scented with honeyed white flowers. In 2010 the reds made up 90 percent of the production.

E. Guigal owns vines here, among them the Vignes de l'Hospice, a steep granite slope, and makes a red from the lieu-dit Saint-Joseph itself. Domaine Stéphane Ogier also has vines in the appellation.

The wines above are the Saint-Joseph wines in the cellar. See also Hermitage, facing Tournon across the river, Cornas to the south, or the full range of Rhône Valley wines.