TN: 2019 Château de Saint Cosme Gigondas (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas)

[Joseph_Grassa]

I thought Gigondas can’t be majority Syrah, am I mistaken?

cancel that. I found this below. Looks like it needs to be 50%+ grenache and at least 15% syrah and mourvèdre combined

• La proportion du cépage grenache N est supérieure ou égale à 50 % de l’encépagement ;
• La proportion de l’ensemble des cépages mourvèdre N et syrah N est supérieure ou égale à 15 % de
  l’encépagement.

Nouveau-Cahier-des-Charges-homologue-par-arrete-du-7-decembre-2020.pdf

[John_Morris]

I thought Gigondas can’t be majority Syrah, am I mistaken?

Cant find that, but every Gigondas I own (54 bottles, 12 unique) is 60% or more.

I was looking this up at the same time, and the INAO rules say at least 80% grenache, with a minimum of 15% syrah and mourvedre combined. Here’s the INAO requirement (under the “Reconnaissance” tab):

Mode de production

Encépagement :
grenache noir limité à 80 %. syrah et mourvèdre minimum 15 %.
autres cépages Côtes du Rhône, excepté le carignan, limités à 10 %.

I don’t know why that’s inconsistent with the appellation rules you found.

[Craig_G]

I thought Gigondas can’t be majority Syrah, am I mistaken?

Cant find that, but every Gigondas I own (54 bottles, 12 unique) is 60% or more.

I was looking this up at the same time, and the INAO rules say at least 80% grenache, with a minimum of 15% syrah and mourvedre combined. Here’s the INAO requirement (under the “Reconnaissance” tab):

Mode de production

Encépagement :
grenache noir limité à 80 %. syrah et mourvèdre minimum 15 %.
autres cépages Côtes du Rhône, excepté le carignan, limités à 10 %.

I don’t know why that’s inconsistent with the appellation rules you found.

I love it when you try to read French.

[John_Morris]

Time for a refresher course, obviously. That’s saying a maximum of 80% grenache, which is consistent with the 50% minimum.

Duh.

[Kurt_L]

I can’t think of any Gigondas that’s majority syrah? Saint Cosme does have their base CdR bottling which is mostly (maybe all?) syrah though.

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.

Domaine des Bosquets makes a 100% Syrah from gigondas called Les Routes. Only one I know of. I have some in the cellar but haven’t tried it yet.

[Jeb_Dunnuck]

In general, the grape % rules in the Southern Rhone are for the vineyards, not the wines, so it’s possible to have a 100% Syrah, or even a 100% Mourvedre, from Gigondas. Unquestionably, the majority of the wines are mostly Grenache.

As to this wine, Louis’s base Gigondas is a pretty classic blend and is always roughly 70% Grenache and 15% each of Mourvèdre and Syrah… there might be some Cinsault in there as well, I believe… however, his three single vineyards are 100% Grenache. All of the wines are not destemmed and aged mostly in used Burgundy barrels, and it has been that way since 1992 when Louis took over from his parents, and I expect even before that… These are always rich, powerful wines that need bottle age… I always have to schedule my visit to Saint Cosme at the end of the day as the tannins in his young wines are brutal… they do integrate, however, and the wines are what they are. I personally love them. In addition, 2019 in the Southern Rhone is a big, powerful vintage (think 2016, 2010, 2005 maybe, very close in style to 1998), so if you want Pinot Noir like Grenache right out of the gate, I’d look elsewhere.

[John_Morris]

In general, the grape % rules in the Southern Rhone are for the vineyards, not the wines, so it’s possible to have a 100% Syrah, or even a 100% Mourvedre, from Gigondas. Unquestionably, the majority of the wines are mostly Grenache.

As to this wine, Louis’s base Gigondas is a pretty classic blend and is always roughly 70% Grenache and 15% each of Mourvèdre and Syrah… there might be some Cinsault in there as well, I believe… however, his three single vineyards are 100% Grenache. All of the wines are not destemmed and aged mostly in used Burgundy barrels, and it has been that way since 1992 when Louis took over from his parents, and I expect even before that… These are always rich, powerful wines that need bottle age… I always have to schedule my visit to Saint Cosme at the end of the day as the tannins in his young wines are brutal… they do integrate, however, and the wines are what they are. I personally love them. In addition, 2019 in the Southern Rhone is a big, powerful vintage (think 2016, 2010, 2005 maybe, very close in style to 1998), so if you want Pinot Noir like Grenache right out of the gate, I’d look elsewhere.

Thanks, Jeb! That’s very helpful. But it’s odd, isn’t it, to have rules for the vineyards only, and not the cepage?

Also, as I read the rules, cinsault is prohibited. They seem to say you can use any Cotes du Rhone grape except cinsault, no?

[S_Rash]

I thought Gigondas can’t be majority Syrah, am I mistaken?

Gigondas has to be at least 50% Grenache

[Kurt_L]

I thought Gigondas can’t be majority Syrah, am I mistaken?

Gigondas has to be at least 50% Grenache

Gonna go with Jeb on this one, no offense

[Marcus_Dean]

I can’t think of any Gigondas that’s majority syrah? Saint Cosme does have their base CdR bottling which is mostly (maybe all?) syrah though.

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.

Domaine des Bosquets makes a 100% Syrah from gigondas called Les Routes. Only one I know of. I have some in the cellar but haven’t tried it yet.

Yup and they have a 100% Grenache bottling and a 100% Mourvedre bottling as well