Chateau de Saint Cosme Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2016
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Hints of strawberry, violet, liquorice and pepper.
Blend: 70% Grenache, 14% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 1% Cinsault
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Blended, but still aging in barrel, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape will likely be bottled in March 2019. Brandied cherries and dried spices mark the nose of this full-bodied, plush wine. It's slightly warm, and certainly rich, but it remains fresh and long on the finish. It should be a beauty.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
James Suckling
Bold and succulent. Ripe, black-fruit aromas with a swathe of spicy-oak and earthy nuances, too. There’s a wealth of plush, brambly, dark-plum and berry flavors in a web of fresh, bright tannins.
Barrel Sample: 93-94 -
Jeb Dunnuck
Scheduled to be bottled in October, the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape checks in as a mix of 50% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, and 10% each of Syrah and Cinsault. Rounded, beautifully textured, and full-bodied, with terrific complexity in its incense, dried flower, cedarwood, and assorted red and black fruits, it should benefit from short-term cellaring and offer over a decade of prime drinking.
Barrel Sample: 92-94 -
Wine Enthusiast
Whiffs of dried sage, bramble, vanilla and spice accent plum and black-cherry flavors in this hedonistic blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault. Rounded and luscious, it has soft acidity and pliant, feathery tannins but maintains a mineral freshness that lingers on the finish. It’s a forward but elegant wine to enjoy now through 2028.
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Wine Spectator
Features a core of steeped red and black currant and raspberry fruit, inlaid with singed cedar, mesquite and chestnut accents. Shows a grippy edge on the finish, with strong mineral and tobacco components lingering. Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault. Best from 2021 through 2035.
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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.
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.
Famous for its full-bodied, seductive and spicy reds with flavor and aroma characteristics reminiscent of black cherry, baked raspberry, garrigue, olive tapenade, lavender and baking spice, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the leading sub-appellation of the southern Rhône River Valley. Large pebbles resembling river rocks, called "galets" in French, dominate most of the terrain. The stones hold heat and reflect it back up to the low-lying gobelet-trained vines. Though the galets are typical, they are not prominent in every vineyard. Chateau Rayas is the most obvious deviation with very sandy soil.
According to law, eighteen grape varieties are allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and most wines are blends of some mix of these. For reds, Grenache is the star player with Mourvedre and Syrah coming typically second. Others used include Cinsault, Counoise and occasionally Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picquepoul Noir and Terret Noir.
Only about 6-7% of wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is white wine. Blends and single-varietal bottlings are typically based on the soft and floral Grenache Blanc but Clairette, Bourboulenc and Roussanne are grown with some significance.
The wine of Chateauneuf-du-Pape takes its name from the relocation of the papal court to Avignon. The lore says that after moving in 1309, Pope Clément V (after whom Chateau Pape-Clément in Pessac-Léognan is named) ordered that vines were planted. But it was actually his successor, John XXII, who established the vineyards. The name however, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, translated as "the pope's new castle," didn’t really stick until the 19th century.