Saint Cosme "Le Claux" Gigondas 2020 (Southern Rhone, France) - [VM 98] [DE 96] [JD 96]

Saint Cosme "Le Claux" Gigondas 2020
(Southern Rhone, France) - [VM 98] [DE 96] [JD 96]


$160.00 $143.97 Save $16.03
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VM98 DE96 JD96
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Notes from the Winemaker:
Le Claux is a living testimony to one of the most fundamental events in the history of French winegrowing – the phylloxera crisis. The vineyard was replanted in 1870 using a rootstock that has all but disappeared today – the ‘Gloire de Montpellier’. It was one of the very first vineyards to be replanted in the Rhone. Producing wines again after such a tragedy must indeed have been ‘glorious’, there is no doubt about it. The masculinity of wines from Le Claux is coupled with a complexity that stems from the genetic diversity of all these old vines, every one of them different. The depth we achieve in Le Claux wines is always amazing, even in the most challenging vintages. In a vintage like 2019, that depth has more in common with the Mariana Trench than with the small pond that emerged after the storm on August 15. The magic of great wines is a pleasure, a gift from above shared by winegrowers the world over, because the joy brought by a good wine is one of Man’s pleasures that goes back aeons. Only the road leading to the village of Gigondas separates Le Claux from Hominis Fides. And yet, these wines are so different. This is always a good way of understanding the meaning of the system of designated vineyard sites devised by Cistercian monks in Burgundy. Before discarding the ideas of those who came before us, we need to reflect, try out other ideas numerous times, then make up our minds, by attempting to look far ahead.


Ratings & Reviews:
98 Points - Vinous Media
Opaque red. Sharply defined red fruit, floral and Moroccan spice aromas, along with intense mineral, garrigue and cola nuances. Shows superb depth as well as vivacity on the palate, offering juicy red and blue fruit, floral pastille and spicecake flavors and an exotic hint of blood orange. Finishes impressively long and precise with firm tension, discreet tannins and reverberating red fruit and floral notes." - Josh Raynolds (Jan 2023)
96 Points - Decanter Magazine:
"Beautifully fragrant nose of star anise, cedar and cigar tobacco. Full-bodied, rounded and seductively plump and juicy, showing clarity, precision and focus on the palate, the fruit melds well with the considerable oak element, and it finishes long, tight and saline. Best Gigondas of the vintage. Very old vines, all whole-cluster fermented in concrete, no destemming, indigenous yeasts, and matured 100% in barriques; one third new, one third second use, and the rest third use. (Drink between 2028-2038)" - Matt Walls (Oct 2021)
96 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
Leading off the three single vineyards, the 2020 Gigondas Le Claux is all Grenache as always and comes from a site just down the hill from the estate. It has lots of savory red and black fruits, ground pepper, and dried garrigue nuances as well as medium to full-bodied richness on the palate. Polished, elegant, and finesse-driven, it shows the pure, balanced style of the vintage perfectly and is a brilliant wine to enjoy over the coming two decades." - Jeb Dunnuck (Mar 2023)