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Tasting Notes
Full bodied with ample structure and sweet fruit. this Côte-Rôtie is a bit reticent at first but with air unfolds with blueberry and blackberry fruit, garrigues, lavender, touches of bacon and licorice spice, and an attractive smokey minerality that continues into the finish.
Body is the impression of a wines weight, density, or its ‘mouth-feel’. Some wines feel weighty, or full bodied, while others feel light bodied. Wine runs the gamut from light to full, with most falling somewhere in between.
TANNIN
Low
Subtle
Balanced
Pronounced
High
Tannin can range greatly in wine, but it is necessary to some degree, and a necessary constituent for red wines to age well. In high amounts, it can cause a drying affect, which is sensed mostly on the gums and tongue. Tannin is a natural preservative extracted from grape skins, otherwise known as polyphenols that are micronutrients and antioxidants with potential health benefits.
ACIDITY
Soft
Subtle
Balanced
Pronounced
High
Acidity is a foundational component in wine. In fact, low acidity, or ‘flabby’ wine (as the term suggests) is a negative. You can sense acidity mainly on the sides of your tongue. Acidity generally ranges from balanced to high. Crisp acidity adds freshness, making your mouth water. Acidity is a necessary element and helps to balance other components.
SWEETNESS
Dry
Off Dry
Medium Dry
Medium Sweet
Very Sweet
Most wines are characterized as dry to off-dry, but there are some grape varietals, like Riesling, that run the gamut from dry to sweet. The tip of the tongue mainly detects sweetness, which is why it is often the primary characteristic detected. Sweetness is derived from residual sugar that did not ferment into alcohol.
ALCOHOL
14.5%
Alcohol is the by-product of fermentation. Differing grape varieties have differing potential alcohol levels, but regardless warmer areas result in riper grapes resulting in higher alcohol. Alcohol level is an objective number, but its affect on its palate impression is largely determined with how well integrated and balanced it is with other components.
Louis Barruol Saint Cosme Côte-Rôtie requires air, and with that comes depth, complexity, and personality.
GRAPE VARIETAL(S)
Syrah
100%See-RA
Syrah is widely planted throughout the world, but that was not so until the late twentieth century when Syrah was principally grown in the Rhone Valley and, as Shiraz, in Australia. Stylistically, the Palate Character of Syrah can vary depending on ripeness from a rich Round & Fleshy, Tone & Backbone, to a Powerful & Extracted. The flavors and aromas can also vary with a dark, sometimes sweet, fruit character, varying amount of spice, floral, and earth, and smoke, and meaty aromas and flavors.
The Château de Saint-Cosme is one of a scant few wineries with roots dating back to the middle ages. Nestled in the shadows of Gigondas’s jagged limestone cliffs, the estate was inherited by the Barruol family in 1570 and remains in the family to this day.
Once early adopters of organic farming, under the leadership of Louis Barruol the estate is now certified biodynamic. Mr. Barruol’s winemaking stresses nonintervention, preferring wild-yeast fermentation, the use of whole-cluster bunches to balance richness, and aging in neutral oak barrels.
Château de Saint-Cosme sets a high bar for traditional Rhône wines, making highly structured-yet balanced wines, often characterized by an exotic and complex character.
Blueberry
Licorice
Smoke
Biodynamic
