Winemaker Notes
Clairette is an old variety that likely originated in southern France often used to produce simple and crisp dry white wines or as a component in a blend such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape blanc. White wines from Clairette have a tradition at Saint Cosme, specifically at Le Poste, where Louis Barroul’s grandfather produced famously long-lived Le Poste Blanc. Limestone soils give Le Poste Blanc a flavor of gun flint and the ability to age for twenty years or more.
When Clairette is made in a serious manner it deserves the same place at the table as great white burgundy, especially when from an outstanding vineyard such as Le Poste. In fact, Le Poste Blanc can be used at the table much in the same way a great Chablis might pair well with oysters, roast chicken, or rabbit in mustard sauce.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Pretty honeysuckle and warm hay notes introduce this savory, saline white, with a rich core of yellow apple and melon flecked with a kiss of buttercream. Shows inner density and deep minerality yet stays impressively light on its feet, with terrific energy through the harmonious, luscious finish, which persists. Excellent. Drink now through 2035. 3 cases imported.
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Vinous
The delicious 2022 Côtes-du-Rhône Blanc Le Poste shines with fragrant blossom, lemon flesh, yellow apple and a nutty white almond complexity. Medium-bodied at most, the white 2022 Le Poste offers good flavor concentration and finishes with a discrete phenolic bite on the elongated finale.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A delicate, spicy bouquet of white flowers, pear and white peach introduces the 2022 Le Poste, a moderately weighted, enveloping and round white Côtes-du-Rhône. Its juicy texture is complemented by bright acids, leading to a long, delicate finish with subtle almond notes. During a blind tasting, it could easily surprise many guests with its finesse and complexity.
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.