2015 St Cosme Gigondas le Claux

Another wine that might flirt with perfection is the 2015 Gigondas le Claux. It’s also 100% Grenache and comes from a site just across the road from the Hominis Fides cuvee. The soils here are slightly more limestone-based, and like all of the wine here, it’s fermented with no destemming and aged mostly in old barrels (20% is new). Camphor, currants, incense, graphite, crushed rocks and licorice all soar from this thriller and it has full-bodied richness, an incredible texture and a blockbuster finish. It will have 2-3 decades of overall longevity. - Jeb Dunnock, The Wine Advocate #228, December 2016

Brilliant ruby. Heady, mineral-laced red berry liqueur, spicecake and floral pastille aromas are complicated by suggestions of smoky minerals and succulent herbs. Juicy, sharply focused raspberry and bitter cherry flavors show superb concentration and become sweeter with air. The sappy, extremely long finish is framed by supple, slow-building tannins that fold quickly into the plush red fruit. Josh Raynolds

I loved the 2015 Gigondas Le Claux from barrel (really loved it), and this beauty doesn’t disappoint from bottle. Checking in as 100% Grenache (100% whole clusters and aged in 20% new barrels) from a site located just across the street from the Hominis Fides vineyard, it offers a heavenly bouquet of blackberries, blueberries, camphor, graphite, and licorice. Sensationally concentrated, rich and opulent, with low acidity, gorgeous purity, and a blockbuster finish, it stays light on its feet and graceful. It’s the greatest vintage of this cuvée to date, and you should buy as much as you can.

Louis Barruol’s Chateau de Saint Cosme is unquestionably one of the reference point estates in Gigondas, as well as the entire southern Rhône Valley. The estate lies just to the east of the village and covers 25 hectares, with 15 of those in Gigondas. He makes a classic Gigondas as well as four single vine releases from single vineyards located around the estate. The wines are not destemmed and aged mostly in older barrels, with a small portion in new barrels.