Saint Cosme Côte Rôtie 2020

Alcohol: 14.4%

Grape(s): 100% Syrah

Localization:  Rhone, France

Tasting Notes: On the palate, it reveals a fresh attack followed by an ample, structured, long-lasting finish. The wine unfurls in successive stages and ends with top-quality tannins produced by whole cluster fermentation. It features aromas and flavors of smoked ham, violet, graphite, graphite, and licorice.

96 Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: Barruol's 2020 Cote Rotie blends fruit from both ends of the appellation to create an exciting blend of violets and blueberries on the nose. It's medium to full-bodied, but richly concentrated and silky, with a lingering, elegant finish. Terrific stuff.

96 Points - Jeb Dunnuck: I loved the 2020 Côte Rôtie, which is certainly the standout from the North. Coming from both the southern and northern ends of the appellation, it’s full-bodied, ripe, and textured, yet never loses a sense of Côte Rôtie elegance. Lots of bacon fat, exotic flowers (I wrote liquid violet in my notes), and gamey blue fruits define the nose, and the balance is spot on, it has silky tannins and is just another brilliant wine.

The Domain: Chateau de Saint Cosme is the leading estate of Gigondas and produces the appellation’s benchmark wines. Wine has been produced on the site of Saint Cosme since Roman times, evident by the ancient Gallo-Roman vats carved into the limestone below the chateau. The property has been in the hands of Louis Barruol’s family since 1570. Henri and Claude Barruol took over in 1957 and gradually moved Saint Cosme away from the bulk wine business. Henri was one of the first in the region to work organically beginning in the 1970s. Louis Barruol took over from his father in 1992, making a dramatic shift to quality, adding a négociant arm to the business in 1997, and converting to biodynamics in 2010.