A focus on Saint Cosme's best terroirs

LE POSTE

Le Poste encircles the Saint Cosme roman chapel. It contains three very tiny parcels : one of Clairette and three of Grenache. This vine was replanted by my father Henri Barruol in 1963. Le Poste is mentioned as a great terroir 517 years ago. Prince of Orange sells it and my ancester Esprit Vaton buys it ten years later in 1490, along with the entire estate. The soil of Le Poste is made with limestony yellow mall, containing a small proportion of sand in which we constantly find fossiles,very typical phenomenon of limestony malls. Le Poste always produces the most feminine and refined wine of the estate.

LE CLAUX

Claus, Claux, Clausas, Clausis, Clauzis mean « closed place », from the latin CLAUSUM, « closed ». This vine of 1.8 hectares is mentioned on the first official vine register in 1902. It is still here today. It is a huge chance as well as an emotional vine. Its soil is composed with yellow limestony clay and small gravels on the surface. It always produces the most « burgundian » Gigondas, because of its obvious finesse and complexity.

HOMINIS FIDES

Just like Le Claux, Hominis Fides is mentioned for the first time in 1902. It’s one of the oldest vines of Saint Cosme. It is composed with sandy soils from the « Helvetian safre » (Miocène moyen) created by mother nature 14 millions years ago. It is a very limestony soil. The mother rock, safre dur, usually can be seen at less than one meter from the surface. Its maximum thickness is 500 meters. When the Lion Gulf fell down, the sea came into the Rhone Valley. This lasted 10 million years. This phenomenon gave a geological specificity to the valley, in between the Massif Central and the Alps. Theses sands, combinated with the grenache produce marvelously textured wines as well as extremely refined tannins : very special and stylish wine. Then the wine can be tender and powerful at the same time. Hominis Fides is always our most deep and enigmatic wine.