Winemaker Notes
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.
A catchall term for the area surrounding the Languedoc and Roussillon, Pays d’Oc is the most important IGP (Indication Géographique Protégée) in France, producing 85% of this country’s wine under the IGP designation. (IGP indicates wine of good quality, not otherwise elevated to the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) status.)
The near perfect Mediterranean climate combined with dry, cool winds from the north, optimal soils, altitudes and exposures make Pays d’Oc an ideal wine growing region. Single varietal wines and blends are possible here and while many types of grapes do well in Pays d’Oc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Grenache and Cinsault are among the most common.
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.