Thoroughly propelled by the serious hype seen over here these last two months, I decided to give the Saint Cosme Cotes-du-Rhone a try.
To start, the fact that the winery is located in Gigondas, one of my favourite wine regions, definitely came as a positive.
The color impressed me as a deep purple, which reminded me of very full-bodied cabs or zins.
On the nose is where is started going downhill for me. Even before the nose was properly placed near the rim of the glass, I was hit by a fruit bomb of the sort the world hasn't seen since The Runways. This brought me back bad Meiomi memories, so I went to the first gulp slightly apprehensive.
In the mouth I did see some redemption. The fruitiness was definitely lighter than what the nose originally indicated, with blackberry and cherry notes throughout. A little astringency was present, generally quite dry overall. Unfortunately, not much back end at all.
Listen, for $20? Probably a good deal, but I was expecting a little more. As the last r/wine discovery brought me G. D. Varja, which through 3-4 wines of their lineup quickly became one of my favourite wineries, this time I was a little let down.
Maybe I should have gone at it through different eyes? I see their Gigondas available in my area, should I give that one a try?
by telecaster_fly_boy
20 Comments
Rhône fanboys can exaggerate. Unpopular opinion, probably, but it’s noticeable
It’s entry level. For $16, good reds are tough. The Gigondas is a different animal, and the single vineyard Vinsobres are awesome, branded under Chateau de Rouanne.
I like their wines but more their Deux Albion bottling in CdR AOC. At least you tried it; one does not have to love everything that people recommend.
This wine is a tasty crowd pleaser which isn’t really meant to be thoroughly dissected, IMO. I like it, but it’s more a gateway to Southern Rhône generally. I like Vajra better as well, but I don’t think it’s on like a different level winemaking-wise, may just be you don’t like super fruit forward wines as much. I guess would be a little surprised if you had experienced and enjoyed much southern Rhône and didn’t like this one. Don’t think it’s atypical at all
I agree with you on this one. The Saint cosme Saint Joseph though… so good.
I’m on the same boat. Was excited to try it after it won one of the quadrants games. But it fell flat imho. Plenty of amazing entry levels at the same price range. I get it’s a great producer but I don’t get the hype for this
I couldn’t vibe with this one either. I tried it with a burger prior to the more recent reddit hype, and I think there are a few other CdR options I prefer near this price point (it’s $14 here), including the standard CdR from Kermit Lynch that goes for $13 and Chateau Pegau Maclura which is $17. And in general, there are better options sub $20 across the board for my taste – Chianti’s, Cabs, etc.
Don’t recall getting Meiomi vibes. I do remember getting a cherry licorice type vibe on the nose, but combined with black olive. Agree re: back end. I need to buy another bottle and give it another go out of curiosity.
Do agree with Vajra though. Consistently $28 here and great value.
Bought half a case yesterday based on the love it got here and… meh.
I’ll try another bottle just in the (highly unlikely) event I pulled an off one, but the plan is return the other four.
It was a little over hyped on Reddit recently, but give this a try. Open a bottle and pour yourself a glass. Wait an hour or two to drink the glass. Recork and wait 1-3 days (refrigerated). Bring it back to 55 f or so and try it. Some of that fruit bomb will have mellowed.
I don’t know why this wine won best value TBH.
To me, a $20 USD cotes-du-rhone has to be really, really freaking good for it to be worth it. Especially since $20 is easily reaching into cru level prices. You can easily find well regarded wines from the crus from reputable producers for that price.
More like Cotes du Groan, am I right?
Had the same reaction as you, though it did improve a bit with a bunch of time and air.
The gigondas is on a whole nother level. I’m partial, because it was probably the first really decent French wine I had many years ago and I kinda fell in love with the rhone for a while. I used to drink it all the time. Would definitely recommend trying it.
This wine has been a consistent, vintage-over-vintage carry at the store I work at.
I will say, both in my personal taste and from comments I’ve gotten from customers that consistently buy this wine, that the 2024 vintage tastes particularly ripe, jammy, and California-esque.
If any 2022/2023 bottles are floating around your area, give those a shot, or maybe hope the 2025 bottling goes in a different direction. When this bottle is on point, it really is in the upper echelon of CdR
Agree. For all the hate Vivino gets for being a mass audience app, this sub’s own ratings are mid. The previous rating game was the most difficult because everyone has different definitions of expensive.
It needs to breath forever. I gave it an hour in the fridge and it was quite pleasant. Also the 2023 was better, more balanced.
Thank you. I feel validated. I’ve always felt the same way. Thought I was missing something given the support for it here
Sounds pretty good to me idk
For a Cdr it’s excellent. Better on day two (if it lasts that long).
I’ve found this wine is very vintage dependent. The 2019 was very savory and complex. The 2022 was meh. I have a bottle of this and based on some CellarTracker reviews I might wait til next year for it.
Funny enough just had this the other day too. If I’m remembering correctly, they’re using carbonic maceration for this, hence the fruit bomb. Which is pretty interesting and uncharacteristic for a Rhône wine