Saint Cosme Cotes-du-Rhone Blanc 2012: Lemon-yellow color; apricot, honeysuckle, limestone and flint on the nose;
wheelbarrow load of stone fruits, peach, honeysuckle, whispering hint of sweetness without getting within a time zone of jammy; medium body, restrained acidity. This is white you can enjoy simply drinking rather than enjoying more with food. Enjoy drinking it all by itself—soft seducer, you are thinking about the pleasures of the second glass mid-way through the first, food can come later—I seldom write that about white wines. Louis Barroul’s Château de Saint Cosme easily is the leading estate in Gigondas in the southern Rhône; they make divine reds, and now this wonderful blend of viognier (30%, aromatics and limestone), picpoul de pinet (25%, limestone), roussanne (20%, gravel and red clay), marsanne (20%, limestone), clairette (5%, limestone)—no wonder minerality leaps from the glass in the excellent effort. I am a red Gigondas groupie, and now this white seductress works its wiles on me—that is what excellent wine does. Saint Cosme lies north of the village of Gigondas and likely is the most ancient estate in the storied region, on the site of a Roman villa that likely had a vineyard, so this comes from wine-producing area possibly 2,000-plus years old; the estate itself dates from 1416; today’s makers represent the 14th generation; the average age of the vines is 60 years. Whew. Wine connects you to history, and this does so with delicious power at very reasonable price. $15-19