Chateau de Saint Cosme Saint-Joseph 2018

100% Serine (ancient variety of Syrah). 70% Destemmed fruit – 30% Whole cluster fermentation. Granite sand from Malleval vale. Twelve months’ ageing: 20% in new casks – 40% in casks used for one wine - 40% in casks used for two or three wines. I never name my sources - it is a matter of principle and my duty to refrain from disclosing information. But sometimes I really feel the urge to do so, and so today I will, anonymously. Our Saint Joseph has beenproduced from the same source and with the same person for 20 years. We have experienced everything together: the great vintages and the bad ones, the easy times and the hard, the joys and the sorrows. But what makes me happiest is that we have constantly progressed together in our knowledge of the soils, in adapting techniques, in our search for the best translation of the terroir and maturation process. That's exactly how I envisage the negociant business, in the same way as our predecessors did before the Second World War. For the past few years, Saint Joseph has finally received due recognition - at last! Aglorious destiny inevitably awaits an appellation with such a close bond to the concept of terroir.

Our 2018 is sanguine, it has texture. It has the brooding depth that we love in a mature Saint Joseph: it makes you suddenly feel like eating a nice peppery steak. We picked very late in 2018 - in October as usual. I love the slow ripening afforded by cool climates - it combines texture and balance. I am very grateful to the family who make this wine with me: thanks to their professionalism and above all their loyalty for the past two decades I can offer you this beautiful wine decorated with an Indian ink drawing by my grandfather, the historian Jean Barruol. Peony, blackberry, liquorice, mild tobacco.