2013 Chateau Saint Cosme Little James’ Basket Press Blanc

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$15 (retail) Wine Club pricing reflected in receipt

My frustration in putting together tasting notes for wine club selections is that information can be difficult—sometimes impossible—to find, especially for wines we source internationally.  When we do track down details (other than what is presented on the bottle), information may not be for current vintages or it is just very difficult to understand.  Here is an excellent example of how winemaker of Chateau Saint Cosme, Louis Barroul, describes his wine. . .entirely in context:

“Made and aged in stainsteel vat.
You ‘ll be surprised about that but it’s as pleasant to vinify a great Little James as a nice Gigondas « Le Claux ». Clearly, we don’t talk about the same category but the most important is to love what we do, love the well done work. My father taught me that and told me that 1000 times but I fully understood that much later. This is to have a logical of artisan and this has nothing to do with the prestige a wine has or hasn’t got. What is important is to be able to talk to you about the wines I make. Ideally these wines should be able to talk to you directly on a nice way. If there is a little bit of emotion, it is even better. This is why I like to dedicate myself to the « little wines » as well because the pleasure for an artisan is when the work has been perfectly done, with love at every stage. When this good work is achieved, the « terroir », the magical of a few soils, the mystery of the climates that forge every day….I don’t have any kind of control on these … Have a good year 2014”

Okay, he tried in English, and he comes across as a very sweet man who loves his work.  Bravo. . .

Wine Advocate Tasting Notes (88 pts):  “A smoking value that’s hard to beat (I probably have 5-6 glasses or more of this at restaurants every year), the 2013 Vin de Table Little James Blanc gives up lots of juicy peach, citrus and pineapple in its clean, quaffable and delicious profile. It sells for a song, yet has real class. A blend of close to equal parts viognier and sauvignon, drink it over the coming year.”

Blend:  50% viognier; 50% sauvignon

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