2019 Château de Saint Cosme Gigondas- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas (1/21/2022)
Honeyed walnuts and hints of raisin, coffee and cacao bathing in almost otherworldly tannins. A huge wine at 15.5% ABV - full SQN style. This doesn’t at all say Syrah to me (and I think it’s 100%, but could be wrong), but then again, I guess it does, because I equally can’t say it tastes like any other grape either, so by elimination, it kinda has to be Syrah. The great chameleon grape yet again.
I can see once the tannins subside with age that it will become a little more rounded, but the sweetness will forever remain. In a way, it feels like a wine that’s 15 years old already and entering the decline fruit-wise, but with huge tannins, still. I will say that this will have its fans - I can see it as a powerful steak dinner wine. (87 pts.)
Sounds gross. Historically this wine is predominantly Grenache, like 70%. Don’t know about the 2019 cepage, but would be surprised by such a paradigm shift. I enjoyed this wine many moon ago but they just kept amping up the volume on it. I quit after 2010. Sounds like the right move.
Louis Barruol of Château de Saint Cosme describes 2019 as ‘a slightly hotter version of 2010, or even 2016,’ and says that yields in Gigondas averaged 30hl/ha.
Opened a 2012 Saint Cosme Gigondas about a month ago and it was world’s apart from this note. Very linear, with bright acids and still some tannic grip. A medley of red and black fruits but fresh with a herbal overlay in the mid palate. I figured after almost 10 years it would have become more open knit but there was a lot of structure there.
But the 15.9%~ ABV for the 2018/19 wines and an experience with the 2019 Beaucastel (dense, simple, grapey) has me holding off these vintages. Just such a gamble without trying these wines.
The 2018 Le Vieux Donjon was lovely on the other hand…so it’s still hard to write off the region. 2019 Brusquieres too - so very decadent but still somehow quite fresh with layers of fruit, herbal and savory complexity - somehow seemed traditional and modern at the same time. 15.8% ABV. I can’t make sense of the region quite frankly.
In 2018, I bought Pegau and Beaucastel, the Pegau is grape juice with moonshine. The 2016 and 2017 vintages were so excellent. I’ve really held off buying much of anything in France for 2018. Most of the wines I’ve tried from Rhone, Bordeaux, Chinon and Beaujolais are too jammy for me.
sadly this reminds me of how I felt about 2012 Chateau de Vaudieu Chateauneuf du Pape Amiral G. Felt like Cali Zin blend meets Amarone. Didn’t have the nuance and finesse I think of with CdP or Gigondas.
Is their a big portion of Southern Rhone going in this direction? And are people really enjoying it?
Jancis gave that Gigondas 18+, and Jeb gave it 97-99
while the Amiral G got 92-94 from Reynlods and then 93 from him again. 96 from Jeb back at WA as well. I’m not getting it.
I’ve bought a fair amount of 2018 Bordeaux from more traditional producers with the expectation that it will have some cross over appeal with family who enjoys larger scaled wines. Thought the 2018 Lanessan was really wonderful for the price last year, we’ve opened five bottles already… last one has really shut down hard with much more taut fruit and a mid-palate with tea like tannin and only an echo of the generosity it had last year. So I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these 2018 Bordeaux come around and firm up in bottle. I didn’t think the Lanessan would shut down for years but was totally wrong unless that one bottle was a one-off.
Approaching some of these vintages with humility… but I think a lot of this will be variable from producer to producer in hot vintages. 2017 Piedmont was supposed to be too hot as well but every wine I’ve had so far has been really well composed with just a touch more generosity than usual.
The more you think you know, the less you know I suppose?
They gave this 97-99pts? Our palates are just universes apart, then. But if you go by Cellartracker, the reviews are more inline with the lower numbers - there are more in the 85-89pts range than the 90+ range. I’m glad I’m not going insane.
Looks like I was looking at the wrong wine. Both are 2019 Gigondas from that producer. Looks like the one you were drinking was 18+ and 93-85 from Jeb. The crazy thing is that I align a great deal with Jeb. I guess maybe not in southern rhone.
Another note from Everything Ahead right after your note saying the same thing and they have had this wine for decades. Once again proving how valuable Cellar Tracker is the “critics” loved the wine.
I’m not aware of any, either. That CDR and Domaine d’Andezon’s CDR are like 90% or more Syrah. I used to buy tons of both as house wine many moons ago - quite nice in cooler years. It’s been a while since I had one.
Souther Rhône is where Jeb crafted his fame. He started his own publication focusing mostly on Southern Rhône, and then was the Rhône reviewer for TWA.
I did a cursory google-fu on the wines grape and one of the first hits said 100% Syrah, but that was clearly wrong. I could go back and change it in Cellartracker review, but I think my ignorance is best left on full display. I’m admittedly clueless about French wines/regions and find it very hard to keep track of what grape is the dominant one for each region or village.
BTW, just popped another glass of it today (open in room temp with cork all night). No better.
Looking at my collection I have had a great deal of alignment on southern rhone wines but generally the most affordable wines. Sub $30 and often sub $20. I have had more alignment with Tuscany & Piedmont. Is that not even him writing those reviews? I don’t subscribe so I have just been reading them on the sites of sellers when I am looking to buy something.
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