Chateau de Saint Cosme Chateauneuf du Pape Rhone Wine, Complete Guide

Learn everything about Saint Cosme, Chateauneuf du Pape with wine tasting notes, wine and food pairing tips, best vintages, a history of the property and information on the vineyards and winemaking. If you want to read about other important wineries and wine makers from the Rhone valley: Links to all Rhone Valley Wine Producer Profiles

Chateau de Saint Cosme History, Overview

Chateau de Saint Cosme is a negociant firm that produces excellent wine in Chateauneuf du Pape as well as in Cote Rotie and Gigondas. In fact, Gigondas is where the domaine maintains their official location. Saint Cosme is situated close to the site of an ancient Roman villa that is said to have been planted with vines thousands of years ago.

Saint Cosme is one of the older wine producers in the world. They have been involved in producing wine since the 15th century! Today, Chateau de Saint Cosme is owned by the Barroul family. The company is family owned and manged. It has been passed down for 15 generations of the Barroul family.

Henri Barruol the patriarch of the family who really brought Saint Cosme into the modern age starting with the 1957 vintage, passed away at 89 years of age in January 2017. His son, Louis Barruol has been in charge of the company since 1992.

Saint Cosme produces Gigondas from 15 hectares of land they own. Saint Cosme produces their Cote Rotie wine from purchased fruit obtained from growers in the Northern Rhone valley.

In Gigondas, they make several wines including 4 single vineyard wines which are the true stars of the appellation; Valbelle, Le Claux, Hominis Fides and Le Poste. Valbelle, was the first of those wines making its debut in 1993. The terroir for Valbelle and Hominis Fides is sand and limestone soils.

Le Claux, has a terroir of gravel and clay with old vines that were planted in over 100 years ago. Le Poste is produced from 50 year old vines that were planted in 1963 in a terroir of limestone and marl soil.

In Chateauneuf du Pape however, they do not own any vines. Instead, like most negociants, they maintain contracts with several growers. Most of their grapes are planted in the La Crau, Valori Cristia and Courthezon lieux-dits.

Chateau de Saint Cosme Vineyards, Wines, Winemaking

The vast majority of the fruit they purchase is a blend if 50% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 7% Cinsault and 3% Claritte. Although, the blend can often will vary to some extent, depending on the character and quality of the vintage. The vines are old at close to 60 years of age. The vineyard sources are in 2 lieux-dits, La Crau and Valori.

Chateau de Saint Cosme makes 1 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge wine.

Chateau de Saint Cosme Chateauneuf du Pape

The fruit is not destemmed. Instead, the grapes are all 100% whole cluster fermented. The wine is aged in old, small, French oak barrels for an average of 20 – 23 months, depending the character and quality of the vintage. On average, Chateau de Saint Cosme produces about 350 cases of Chateauneuf du Pape wine each year.

When to Drink Chateau de Saint Cosme, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Chateau de Saint Cosme can be enjoyed on the young side. Young vintages can be popped and poured, or decanted for about 1 hour. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Chateau de Saint Cosme is usually better with 2-4 years of bottle age. Of course that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage. In the best vintages the wine should be consumed within 3-12 years after the vintage.

Serving Chateau de Saint Cosme with Wine, Food Pairing Tips

Chateau de Chateau Saint Cosme is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Saint Cosme is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, stewed dishes, sausage, barbecue and cassoulet. Chateau Saint Cosme is also good with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms, cheese, pasta, eggplant and tomatoes.

Chateau de Saint Cosme produces several wines in the Southern Rhone from the Gigondas, and Cotes du Rhone appellations. In the Northern Rhone Valley they produce Cote Rotie, Crozes Hermitage, St. Joseph and Condrieu.

www.saintcosme.com