Chateau de Saint Cosme Crozes-Hermitage 2018
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
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Spirits
Wine &
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Winemaker Notes
100% Serine (ancient variety of Syrah). Destemmed fruit. Granite soils. Twelve months’ ageing: 20% in new casks - 40% in casks used for one wine - 40% in casks used for two wines. At the foot of Gervans hill, there is a rather amazing Gallo-Roman milestone. It is in perfect condition and is a reminder of how bountiful rural life was at the time. It shows that this was a place where people interacted but which also had great potential for farming. Vines were already being grown here, that is an undisputed fact. So - are the wines we taste today similar to those of our distant ancestors? It's difficult to say, but thereis no doubt that terroir is more powerful than the grape variety. It’s then up to everyone to make up their own mind. I am always amazed by my ‘side-by-side’ tastings of Crozes Hermitage and Saint Joseph: how is it possible that the two can be so different? When we refer to the ‘Northern Rhone Valley’, we are taking a huge shortcut and making a massive generalisation. People who live here know how different the climates are. In reality, there are ‘two Northern Rhones’. In Tain l'Hermitage, a certain ‘southern’ influence is already tangible, while the Côte-Rôtie area is definitely continental. Of course, our Crozes seems very ‘friendly’ and ‘easy’ next to Saint Joseph but the secret is that there is a wine for every occasion. On the hillsides of Gervans and Erôme, just behind Hermitage hill, the wines are often quite similar to those of Hermitage. Itcould almost be an appellation in its own right because there is a huge difference with the ‘Châssis’ terroirs.
2018 Crozes is long, broad, flavourful, ripe and balanced: what a vintage! Probably one of the best since we have been making it. Smoked bacon, blackberry, white pepper, incense.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Looking at the Northern Rhône releases from Louis, the 2018 Crozes Hermitage offers terrific depth of fruit as well as hints of violets and pepper, medium body, and fine tannins. It’s beautifully textured and just sings of Syrah.
Range: 90-92 -
Wine Enthusiast
Fresh sprays of granite and salt accent bristling redcurrants and cherries in this fresh, mouthdrenching Syrah. Full bodied yet invigorating on the midpalate, it’s a pure-fruited but deeply mineral wine. Fine, supple tannins make it ready to drink now but the wine should stay at peak through 2028.
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Wine & Spirits
This is dark and spicy, with a ray of sweet red-cherry flavor that keeps it feeling fresh and bright despite its blueberry-ripe intensity. The alcohol adds extra spice that, together with the tannins, make this a big-boned Crozes for meaty dishes.
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Jeb
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Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb
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Suckling
James -
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Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
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Robert
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Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James
Chateau de Saint Cosme is the leading estate of Gigondas and produces the appellation’s benchmark wines. Wine has been produced on the site of Saint Cosme since Roman times, evident by the ancient Gallo-Roman vats carved into the limestone below the chateau. The property has been in the hands of Louis Barruol’s family since 1570. Henri and Claude Barruol took over in 1957 and gradually moved Saint Cosme away from the bulk wine business. Henri was one of the first in the region to work organically beginning in the 1970s. Louis Barruol took over from his father in 1992, making a dramatic shift to quality, adding a négociant arm to the business in 1997, and converting to biodynamics in 2010.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Crozes-Hermitage is Northern Rhone’s largest appellation, surrounding the steep granite faces of Hermitage to its north and south. Here the rolling vineyards are less extreme and its soils, rich in clay-limestone and alluvial matter, produce Syrahs that range from fruity and charming to lush and seductive. The Syrahs of Crozes-Hermitage have more mass than those from St. Joseph but are less intense than those from Hermitage. While many are intended for early consumption, some of the best Syrahs from Crozes-Hermitage will age beautifully for 5-10 years.
Up to 15% of white grapes may theoretically be added to red Crozes at the time of fermentation but whether this is done or not depends on the decision of the winemaker. The best Crozes-Hermitage Syrahs will be fleshy with black fruit (currant, blackberry and black cherry) and bay leaf qualities, notes of tar and stone, and a well-concentrated finish of smooth tannins.
About a tenth of the wine produced in Crozes-Hermitage is white, primarily composed of Marsanne supplemented by smaller amounts of Roussanne.