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| Château de Saint Cosme | ||||||||||||||
Louis Berruol, the young and talented winemaker since the 1995 vintage, has 15 hectares of old vines around the estate in Gigondas with an average age of 60 years. Yields are kept very low at around 27 hectoliters per hectare. The soil is geologically complex and the micro-climate is cool and late ripening. Dominated by Grenache, the Gigondas of Ch. de Saint Cosme are dense and ripe with great finesse, fine texture, smooth tannins and a distinct purity of expression. Elevage at Saint Cosme is very simple and very demanding. After a careful selection of clean, ripe grapes on the sorting tables, no artificial yeasts are used in fermentation. The reds are not fined or filtered, and SO2 is used as sparingly as possible. Low levels of production allow painstaking personal care and attention to fermentation, barrel aging and bottling. Louis' passion for quality is clearly evident in the supple balance, harmony, complexity and lush, fruity character of his wines. The enterprising Louis has also developed a first class negociant business in other Rhône Valley appellations: Côte Rotie, Condrieu, Châteauneuf du Pape, Côtes du Ventoux and Côtes du Rhône red and white. After identifying great terroirs, he establishes long-term relationships with growers and works closely with them to improve the maturity, ripeness and health of the fruit. He carefully oversees the harvest, where necessary removing unhealthy or unripe fruit. Fermentation and élevage is performed in the cellars with the same techniques and spirit devoted to his Gigondas. Reviews From the International Wine Cellar: "The talented Louis Barruol did not make his special Gigondas Cuvee Valbelle in 2000, as he did not find enough difference in style between the fruit that would go into this bottling and the rest. Not surprisingly, he rates 2000 as highly successful and very ripe, but not quite up to 1998 in quality. He is enamored of the 2001s, however. The sugars really exploded late in the harvest season, and the skins ripened late," he told me. At the beginning I didn't think 2001 was exceptional, but the wines have really progressed with elevage. It's turning out to be a great vintage." Barruol favors Vosges oak for his Cote-Rotie and Gigondas bottlings, with the wood dried for 36 months and charred very slowly. The drying of the wood is critical because the quality of the wine really comes during the second year of elevage," he noted." © International Wine Cellar From the Wine Advocate, #156 (Dec 2004): "How many times have I written about a once uninspiring estate or producer shifting gears, largely because a member of the younger generation took charge and propelled the estate into the top echelon of high quality producers? St.-Cosme is another example of a young, passionate vignerons, in this case Louis Barruol, not only resurrecting the fortunes of the estate’s vineyards in Gigondas, but starting a high quality, limited production negociant business that is doing stunning work throughout the Rhone Valley. Like many of his generation, he is a forward-looking owner who knows he has magical terroirs, but also realizes that the glories of the Rhone are extensive, and many vineyards where the fruit was sold to cooperatives possess ancient vines, fine terroirs, and the potential to create something special in the hands of a dedicated winemaker. Barruol is certainly fulfilling his desire to be one of the best of his generation. One of the glorious things about this firm is their negociant line, called simply St.-Cosme, that includes so many extraordinary values, not to mention some profound wines at the top end." © The Wine Advocate |
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