When I made my first Cotes du Rhone in 1997, my father Henri Barruol drew the label in Indian ink
portraying the pretty lodge located at the entrance to the estate. Never could I have imagined at that time
that the wine would become so popular with our customers. The original idea was to make a Syrah-based
Côtes du Rhône, unlike virtually all Côtes du Rhône which is generally made from Grenache. We wanted to
make a fruit-forward, rounded, fresh wine. Those ideas remain unchanged – they still have currency and I
try and ensure incremental progress in our Côtes du Rhône with every passing year. Obviously, we are
always dependent on what the vintage gives us but in actual fact, for this particular wine, the 2020 is very
similar to the 2019 – the fruit was ripe and absolutely stunning. The resultant wine shows lush black fruit, it
is rounded and fleshy with a salinity that calls for a fine steak. This wine has a short vatting period, the
technique used by my father. In fact, in the 1970s and 1980s, Saint Cosme’s Gigondas only spent 15 days
in vats! At the time, it was the norm and the wines were brimming with fruit and freshness, though could still
age marvellously.
Blackberry, smoked bacon, coal, blueberry, rose. ”
100% Syrah.