2017 Chateau de Saint Cosme Les Deux Albions Côtes du Rhône 750 ml

A Top-Shelf Rhône Cru in Disguise

Few names are as closely associated with the Rhône Valley as Louis Barruol’s Château de Saint Cosme, which is widely regarded as the top producer of Gigondas and a source of reliably excellent wines throughout their entire range, regardless of price. This one, the estate-sourced 2017 Les Deux Albions Côtes du Rhône, leaps from the glass with smoked plum, black cherry, and irresistible wild herb aromas, making it easily the best we’ve tasted among its competition, and at a price totally at odds with its exclusivity.

The first time we met Louis Barruol, the master of Gigondas, we fully expected to flip over his top-shelf offerings. What we didn’t plan on, however, was falling so hard for his Les Deux Albion Côtes du Rhône. Derived from just three estate plots this is an impeccably sourced steal at $24 per bottle. This is a wine that so over-delivers for the price that we couldn’t help but doubt Barruol when he gave us the quote.

What’s in a name? In the case of the Château de Saint Cosme Les Deux Albion a ton, because although Barruol makes an excellent Côtes du Rhône under the Saint Cosme label, he only uses his domaine’s full name—Château de Saint Cosme—to denote wines sourced from his own estate, like his standard-bearing Gigondas. So it’s no wonder why this Côtes du Rhône is such an overperformer. It’s sourced from two plots in the Côtes du Rhône-Villages areas of Plan de Dieu and Saint Maurice, as well as the full-fledged AOC of Cairanne, which did its time as a Côtes du Rhône-Villages before being promoted. Just like Barruol’s beloved Gigondas.

The result is a stellar Côtes du Rhône that drinks more like a Rhône cru than an everyday red blend. It’s an expression of the beloved region, and he treats it with the respect it deserves. The 2017 is a co-fermented blend of Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Mourvèdre and Clairette that’s been aged in a combination of wood vats and concrete to add spice and complexity across the palate, and then bottled without filtration to showcase its fruity, aromatic verve and retain maximum color concentration.

Wine Access members know that great producers don’t just apply their skills to their top wines, but give all of their bottlings the same attention to detail as their marquee wines—and often sell them at a fraction of the price. In a year like 2017, when conditions were great but challenging weather resulted in yields that were just 30-50% of normal, that means you have to act: This is a fantastic vintage, but there isn’t much to go around.  

Yet here it is, while our 30 cases last: A concentrated, persistent, estate-grown Côtes du Rhône that captures everything that makes Château de Saint Cosme the best in the region, seen through the lens of a great vintage that challenged lesser producers yet allowed this one to demonstrate exactly why they’ve been a leader here, year after year, since 1570