Chateau de Saint Cosme

Being a winegrower implies searching for, and perfecting, ways of maximising sense of place in one’s wines over an entire lifetime. Each location creates a kind of ‘technical pathway’. Each decision by a winegrower is like a crossroads where he or she can take the right, or the wrong, direction. There are no shortcuts and, generally speaking, when the wrong decision is made, it is hard to make amends. So, finding the right path for each location involves searching for a site’s ‘solution’, like...

100% Serine (ancient variety of Syrah). Whole cluster fermentation. Schist in the Le Plomb, Besset, la Viaillère and Neve named vineyards. Twelve months’ ageing: 30% in new casks – 70% in casks used for one wine. Down through the years, I have tasted a broad selection of the many marvels the Rhone can offer, and I often wonder if this schist area in northern Côte-Rôtie (localities such as Viaillere, Grandes Places, Neve and Plomb) isn’t the greatest vineyard site in the Rhone valley. Because a...