Winemaker Notes
Le Poste’s cool microclimate and limestone soil make it one of Saint Cosme’s most structured, aromatic, and mineral intense wines of the estate. This wine always walks a knife's edge of power and finesse thanks to its deep fruit and precise structure. The wine features aromas and flavors of iodine, violet, pepper, and ash.
Grenache is the pale-colored, red-fruited, and potpourri-scented red grape variety of the southern Rhône and can be paired with both rustic and sophisticated dishes. Full-bodied Grenache-based wines are ideal with stews, braises, and grilled meats, while lighter versions can work well with dark fish and tomato-based dishes such as ratatouille.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
I think the standout in the lineup is the 2023 Gigondas Le Poste, which is all Grenache from a slightly higher elevation site just up the hill from the château. It has gorgeous darker, almost blue fruits as well as spring flowers, violets, pepper, and a beautiful sense of minerality. With medium to full-bodied richness, a pure, seamless mouthfeel, gorgeous tannins, and a great finish, it’s going to offer pleasure right out of the gate yet cruise over the following two decades in cold cellars. Don’t miss it.
Range: 95-97+ -
Wine Enthusiast
This wine commands attention from the moment it greets the nose, with an undeniable aromatic intensity that's both bold and inviting. It's serious, but it also possesses an inherent charm that makes it approachable in its youth. The nose bursts with the sweetness of perfectly ripe Anjou pear, delicate peach blossom, fresh lychee, and peonies, all layered with hints of rain-soaked earth and broken stones. On the palate, it's generous and lively, with a salinity that cuts through the richness, providing both refreshment and depth. This wine will evolve beautifully over the years—easily capable of aging through 2033+.
Cellar Selection -
James Suckling
The pure velvet of this Gigondas beauty wraps itself around you so easily, but it is quite a task to wrap your mind around this great Gigondas. Notes of aniseed and 100% bitter chocolate make this stand out from the crowd. The dense fine-grained tannins build in the long and very complete finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Gigondas le Poste is superb, opening in the glass with aromas of violets, wild blackberry, licorice, garrigue and crushed rock. Medium- to full-bodied, deep and layered, it’s more taut and vertical than its siblings this year, and it's built around a spine of chalky tannins and bright acids that lend the wine precision and length. Despite its inherent power, it retains a sense of restraint and refinement, with a long, mineral-driven finish that speaks to the vineyard’s limestone soils. This is a serious, classically proportioned Le Poste that will reward a decade or more of cellaring. Raing: 95+
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Wine Spectator
Monster in scale and depth, with a brooding core of dark fruit, spices and incense wrapped around a spine of molten iron. Displays power and ripeness, with an attractive, savory contrast of smoke and a salty tobacco edge to its black currant. There’s a rush of cedar polish on the rock-solid finish, which shows impressive finesse for such a weighty frame. Give this time to fully reveal itself.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
The Southern Rhône region of Gigondas extends northwest from the notably jagged wall of mountains called the Dentelles di Montmirail, whose highest point climbs to about 2,600 feet. The region and its wines have much in common with the neighboring Chateauneuf-du-Pape except that the vineyards of Gigondas exist at higher elevation and its soils, comprised mainly of crumbled limestone from the Dentelles, often produce a more dense and robust Grenache-based red wine.
The region has a history of fine winemaking, extending back to Roman times. But by the 20th century, Gigondas was merely lumped into the less distinct zone of Côtes du Rhône Villages. However, it was first among these satellite villages to earn its own appellation, which occurred in 1971.
Gigondas reds must be between 50 to 100% Grenache with Syrah and Mourvèdre comprising the bulk of the remainder of the blend. They tend express rustic flavors and aromas of wild blackberry, raspberry, fig, plum, as well as juniper, dried herbs, anise, smoke and river rock. The best are bold but balanced, and finish with impressively sexy and velvety tannins.
The Gigondas appellation also produces rosé but no white wines.