Christie Kiley on January 18, 2016 0 Comments The season of holiday gluttony and celebration is officially a thing of the past. By now, most of us have made our New Year’s resolutions to get healthy–or at the very least to shed away those pounds we put on during the holidays. Typically, these types of resolutions include eating lighter foods, smaller portions and ignoring any sort of craving we experience for our favorite snacks and treats. Some of you might even have resolutions to cut back on or give up alcohol. As a sommelier, I would not recommend such an extreme act. Instead, I recommend that you go ahead and treat yourself once a week to a bit of what you crave. Instead of resolving to give up something in 2016, how about you choose to reward yourself with something that makes you truly happy. There’s no point in abstaining completely and neglecting such cravings to then go and binge when you find yourself in a weak moment. To be perfectly honest, I recommend that you have at least three glasses of red wine per week. We’ve all read the various articles claiming that consuming red wine is equal to an hour at the gym. Red wine is also known for its antioxidant properties and it is proven to be a healthy digestive to have with your food, making it easier for your stomach and gut to break down fats and other heavy calories so that they all don’t end up completely on your hips or clogging your arteries. If anything, red wine should without any doubt be included with one’s New Year’s resolution diet. So go on, have your red wine without feeling guilty about it. The 2013 Chateau de Saint Cosme Gigondas is a great bottle to have around at the start of the New Year. Below, I have reviewed this wine for you as well as provided some background information about the history of the winery. The Gigondas Region The Chateau de Saint Cosme winery is located in the Gigondas region in the southern part of the Rhone Valley, where primarily red wines are made. The estate was founded on an ancient Gallo-Roman site where a chapel was constructed during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. The chapel has become a popular site for tourists to take a stroll up the hill and visit. This old property has remained in the family for many generations–ever since 1490. Their modest fifteen hectares of vines are all around 60 years old. The Saint Cosme estate is also known for its special terroir. They have been recognized as having a very unique and grand terroir for over five hundred years. Here, the soils vary thanks to the property sitting along the sides of two geological faults. Fossils are a common find here in the sandy and limestone soils–soils which formed some fourteen million years ago which can be measured as far as one meter below the surface. It is a very unique region found lying between the Alps and the expansive Massif Central range. Another unique aspect about this region of Gigondas is its climate. Many of the wines of the Rhone Valley are known as warm climate wines. This is because it is one of the warmest wine regions in all of France due to its geographical location and its placement in a valley, which is isolated from the cooling sea with the Alps and Massif Central surrounding the location. However, the microclimate where Saint Cosme is located is known for cooler temperatures in which grapes are slow to ripen, but have additional time to develop their organoleptic characteristics. The 2013 Chateau de Saint Cosme Gigondas This vintage is made up of the signature grapes of the Rhone with 50% Grenache and 15% Syrah with an added 30% Mourvedre and 5% Cinsault. The 2013 growing season was exceptional for this vineyard, as it experienced much cooler temperatures than normal and a longer growing season, which kept sugars low and balanced acidity allowing for the fruit to reach its potential, depth and freshness. This is not unlike your more recognized raisin-quality Rhone wines. The Syrah was able to maintain qualities more like fresh summer berries with the signature fresh ground peppercorn. Grenache of the region maintained quality of fresh, juicy red fruits. Which such fresh nuances, the fruit resulted in a wine that was terroir-driven and a refreshing, unique red wine. The nose carries lovely dark floral accents along with a touch of dark licorice, red currants, blackberry, cayenne and black pepper spice with a finish of some dry, stony minerality. So while you might be committed to your New Year’s resolution diet this year, be sure to still enjoy a glass of red wine a couple times a week. Enjoy this particular wine with your healthy meals of lean beef and a hearty salad, pork or even some herbaceous slow-roasted chicken and great root vegetables. In 2016, don’t be afraid to treat yourself to something special every now and again.
