Chateau de Saint Cosme Gigondas 2014
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Perfect with meatloaf and roasted fingerling potatoes.
Blend: 65% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 18% Mourvedre, 2% Cinsault
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Sports solid, charcoal-edged grip from the get-go, with roasted alder and savory notes forming a robust frame around the chewy-edged currant, plum and bitter cherry paste flavors. The long, dark, smoldering finish lets the woodsy and herb accents stride through. Shows the cool-weather profile of the vintage. Best from 2018 through 2024. 3,700 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Checking in as a blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and 15% Syrah, the 2014 Gigondas is a rock solid effort in a difficult vintage. Offering the classic graphite, camphor, mineral and darker fruit that's the hallmark of this estate, it's medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated and has a tight, backwards, age-worthy feel. Give bottles 3-4 years of cellaring and drink through 2029. Range: 89-91
Other Vintages
2021- Vinous
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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.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
The Southern Rhône region of Gigondas extends northwest from the notably jagged wall of mountains called the Dentelles di Montmirail, whose highest point climbs to about 2,600 feet. The region and its wines have much in common with the neighboring Chateauneuf-du-Pape except that the vineyards of Gigondas exist at higher elevation and its soils, comprised mainly of crumbled limestone from the Dentelles, often produce a more dense and robust Grenache-based red wine.
The region has a history of fine winemaking, extending back to Roman times. But by the 20th century, Gigondas was merely lumped into the less distinct zone of Côtes du Rhône Villages. However, it was first among these satellite villages to earn its own appellation, which occurred in 1971.
Gigondas reds must be between 50 to 100% Grenache with Syrah and Mourvèdre comprising the bulk of the remainder of the blend. They tend express rustic flavors and aromas of wild blackberry, raspberry, fig, plum, as well as juniper, dried herbs, anise, smoke and river rock. The best are bold but balanced, and finish with impressively sexy and velvety tannins.
The Gigondas appellation also produces rosé but no white wines.