2018 chateau de saint cosme, gigondas, le claux
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Why We're Buying
Batman and Robin. Jordan and Pippen. Homonis Fidis and Le Claux. While Hominis Fides is the star at Château de Saint Cosme, Le Claux is no slouch. Wine critic Jeb Dunnuck described the 2017 vintage as "just about perfection in a glass."
Critics Scores
Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from a site just across the road from the Hominis Fides vineyard, the 2018 Gigondas Le Claux was not destemmed and brought up mostly in used, larger barrels. Beautifully Provençal notes of black raspberries, camphor, flowery incense, and peppery spice and emerge from the glass and this beauty is reminds me of a Grand Cru Red Burgundy on the palate with its seamless, elegant, layered texture. It’s not a blockbuster like the 2016 and 2017 yet shines for its complex aromatics and flawless balance. It also has more than enough structure to evolve for two decades.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a single parcel of old-vine Grenache, the 2018 Gigondas le Claux matured in a mix of new, one- and two-year-old barrels. Full-bodied, rich and expansive, it combines notes of black cherries, roses, black tea and asphalt with vanilla and hints of cigar box. Ripe, supple and velvety, it's a seductive example of Gigondas that should drink well for more than a decade.
Wine & Spirits
Le Claux was planted in 1870 using the first phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks available in the region, and the vineyard still retains some of those original vines—about ten percent, Louis Barruol believes, crediting his father for his heroic efforts to revive them. Those old vines, planted in an alluvial fan, grew a particularly dark, brooding Gigondas in 2018. It’s chewy and dense, with black-fig and blackberry flavors and an intriguingly earthy, gamey funk, and yet there’s still crunch to the fruit, a vibrancy that keeps it from feeling too heavy. Built for a thick-cut steak, or a decade in the cellar.
Wine Spectator
Quite ripe, with waves of warmed plum sauce and blackberry preserves rolling through, wrapped liberally with licorice root, sage and lavender notes. Iron minerality runs through the finish, letting the fruit and savory notes meld wonderfully. Built for the cellar. Best from 2022 through 2035.