Louis Barruol of Ch. Ste. Cosme start a new Northern Rhone project?

WINE TALK
1

Just noticed on Zachy’s website that they are listing a handful of new 2009 Northern Rhones by Barruol:

http://www.zachys.com/retail/Results.aspx?N=0&Nr=64&Ntk=Retail&Ntt=barruol&Ntx=matchallpartial

Cote Rotie Les Roses Louis Barruol 2009
Crozes Hermitage Tiercerolles Louis Barruol 2009
Hermitage Les Pierrelles Louis Barruol 2009
Hermitage Les Pierrelles Louis Barruol 2009
Cote Rotie La Boisselee Louis Barruol 2009
Cote Rotie La Doree Louis Barruol 2009

I’m a fan of Barruol, but frankly, had never heard of this new project. What is it?

Or more notably, anyone try these wines yet?

2

I thought St. Cosme has had a CR wine for about ten years?

3

I tasted through some of the Barroul lineup a couple months ago and was very impressed. Haven’t had a lot of St. Cosme but from what I have had, I thought these Barrouls were even better. One of the Cote Roties really stood out, but I don’t recall which one.

4

Just checked my (very brief) notes. Here is what I tasted:

2009 Barroul Crozes-Hermitage “Tiercerolles” - animale/funk, a bit rustic, nice for Crozes
2009 Barroul Cote-Rotie “Les Roses” - bacon/meaty/funk, dark fruit, very nice (I starred this one)
2009 Barroul Hermitage “Pierrelles” - dark fruit predominant, structured tannins, tight, long-life ahead of it

5

That’s a big complement from my perspective. I’ve been a huge fan over the years with Cosme’s Southern Rhones, from the base CDRs to the Gigondas cuvees. Cosme makes a very very decent St. Joseph as well.

It’s interesting to me to see that Barruol is branching out so much, and hopefully not over-extending himself. His family estate, Chateau de St. Cosme, has been around for many centuries, since 1400s I think. He expanded the Gigondas offering to various single-vineyard cuvees (up to 4 now, in addition to the base Gigondas). He started a negotiant line in the late '90s under the name “Saint Cosme” for introduction of a few Northern Rhone offerings, Cote Rotie, St. Joseph, Coindrieu, and just recently in 2009, Croze Hermitage, in addition to CDP and a few CDRs. He has also done some bottlings for Kermit and is now working on a finger lakes winery.

6

This might be a little thread drift but I just brought Saint Cosme 2010 CDR into the store. The Barroul web site http://www.saintcosme.com/en/pdf/techsheet/10/cdr_10.pdf says the wine is 100% Syrah. Everything I have ever read says that a CDR should be blended with at least 50% Grenache. This is an AOP wine. Does that make a difference?

7

Under the AOC rules, north of the dividing line between the Northern and Southern Rhone around Montelimar, CdR must be 100% syrah:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Côtes_du_Rhône_AOC#C.C3.B4tes_du_Rh.C3.B4ne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhône_wine#Northern_Rh.C3.B4ne

8

Just noticed this is available now locally for all of $10.99. Typically a favorite QPR of mine, but did notice it got slaughtered on CT in a handful of notes. Anyone from the WP community try it yet, or for that matter, any of the '09 gigondas cuvees as well? They are also out.

9

I tried the Hermitage and one of the Cote Roties recently, they were both excellent (I slightly preferred the Hermitage). My understanding is that this is a venture between Barruol and Kermit Lynch, but I may not be remembering correctly.

10

John,
Thanks for this info as this had been a mystery to me, too.

11

Robert, Alan has this right. You will find some information in Kermit’s June newsletter. If you want some pricing, please shoot me an e-mail message. [cheers.gif]