Saint Cosme "Le Claux" Gigondas 2021
(Southern Rhone, France) - [VM 95-97] [JD 94]
Regular price $155.00 Sale price $139.97 Save $15.03
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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.
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:
95-97 Points - Vinous Media:
"Brilliant violet color. Displays pungent, mineral- and spice-accented cherry, black raspberry, potpourri and licorice aromas, along with hints of savory herbs, vanilla and incense. Chewy and tightly focused on the palate, offering bitter cherry, dark berry and Moroccan spice flavors that unfurl slowly through the back half. It closes with firm tension, chewy tannins and excellent tenacity, leaving resonating cherry and floral notes behind. All barriques, a third of them new.' - Josh Raynolds (Jan 2023)
94 Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
The 2021 Gigondas Le Claux is elegant and refined, with medium-bodied richness and depth as well as ultra-fine tannins. It has an almost Pinot Noir-like quality in its ripe red fruits, spring flowers, camphor, and forest floor aromatics, and it has good concentration as well as length on the finish. As always, this single vineyard release is all Grenache that wasn't destemmed and was brought up in demi-muids." - Jeb Dunnuck (Oct 2023)