The Wines of the Northern Rhone Valley.

I have been wanting to taste some of the Northern Rhones I have been reading about and studying, so I found some! These are not in the order that I drank them, but I will start to the south and head north.
First up:
1999 E. Guigal Hermitage 13% abv
c- garnet purple fading to orange rim.
a- plum, strawberry, cassis, pine herbs, animal, leather, meat.
f- plum, strawberry, currant, meat, smoke, vanilla and campfire. some spices and pine herbs. m+body and m+ finish.
91
2008 Domaine Faury St. Joseph 13% abv
c- ruby to garnet edges
a- blackberry, plum, bell pepper, animal, leather, vanilla, spices, pine herbs.
f- blackberry, plum, black pepper, animal, leather, spices, pine herbs. m+body, m+ finish
89-90
2008 Domaine Faury Cote Rotie 13% abv
c- purple/ruby with lighter rim
a- blackberry, currant, vanilla, spices, and pine herbs.
f- blackberry, currant, strawberry, white pepper, vanilla and campfire. m+ body, m+ finish.
89
The best was the Hermitage of course also the most expensive. A really great wine of depth and personality. But for my money, I would seek the Faury St. Joseph. I found it to be just as good if not even better than the Cote Rotie, which cost me a little more than three times as much. Honestly, I was disappointed with the Cote Rotie. I was really expecting more. As you can see from my notes, it was actually pretty close to the St. Joseph. I will have to try some from another producer when I can find some at a reasonable price.