Chateau de Saint Cosme Domaine de Saint Cosme Les Deux Albion Blanc 2018
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Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Les Deux Albions Blanc shows the salty minerality typical of limestone terroir with notes of dried apricots and white flowers. The plantings near Violès include Bourboulenc, Marsanne, Viognier, Picpoul, Clairette, and Ugni Blanc, and all varieties will be included in future bottlings.
Viognier aged in neutral barrels has a full body and rich texture with just-medium acidity. It is easily paired with dishes that feature creamy sauces, mild white fish, and roasted pork or chicken. Picpoul brings acidity to the blend and gives this wine salinity, making it a superb choice for cooked or raw shellfish.
Blend: 40% Viognier, 30% Picpoul, 20% Marsanne, 4% Clairette, 3% Ugni Blanc, 3% other local grapes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of Viognier, Marsanne and Picpoul, the 2018 IGP Principauté d'Orange Les Deux Albions Blanc features notes of pear, apricot and melon. It's medium to full-bodied, plump and generous in feel yet balanced, adding hints of honeyed citrus on the long finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
More rich and concentrated, the 2018 Principauté D'Orange Les Deux Albion Blanc comes all from limestone soils and includes a mix of permitted varieties. Notes of peach, apricot, and brioche all give way to a medium-bodied white that has a rounded, layered texture, plenty of richness, and a great finish.
Other Vintages
2021-
Wine
Spectator
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Jeb
Dunnuck
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator
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Wine
Spectator
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.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Typically thought of as a baby Chateâuneuf-du-Pape, the term Côtes du Rhône actually doesn’t merely apply to the flatter outskirts of the major southern Rhône appellations, it also includes the fringes of well-respected northern Rhône appellations. White wines can be produced under the appellation name, but very little is actually made.
The region offers some of the best values in France and even some first-rate and age-worthy reds. Red wine varieties include most of the Chateâuneuf-du-Pape varieties like Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Counoise, as well as Carignan. White grapes grown include Grenache blanc, Roussanne and Viognier, among others.