Cotes du Rhone Saint Cosme 2015

The talented Louis Barruol is the 14^th generation of his family to make wine at Saint Cosme which is found to the north of the village of Gigondas, in the southern Rhône. Lying on the site of a Gallo-Roman villa, it is the most ancient estate in the region with the remains of a Roman cellar still visible in the property’s caves. Barroul’s ancestors acquired it in 1570 and built a splendid residence over existing cellars.

Louis Barruol himself took over in 1992 and immediately embarked on an ambitious modernisation programme with very clear ideas about the type of wine he wanted to make. He has since emerged as one of the Rhône’s most talented winemakers winning tremendous acclaim for his estate Gigondas wines in particular which are exceptional. For several vintages he has made The Society’s Exhibition Gigondas, a splendidly full-bodied rich fruitcake of a wine with dense fruit and powerful flavour.

Barruol also started the tradition in 1997 of buying in grapes from other select growers enabling him to produce a vast and impressive array of wines for the Saint-Cosme portfolio, from entry-level upwards.

These connections give him access to some exceptional parcels in the Northern Rhône, where he makes small volumes of Côte-Rôtie, Saint-Joseph and Condrieu.