Saint Cosme Gigondas Hominis Fides 2018 (750ML)

97 WA / 97 JD / 97 WE / 96 VM / 95 WS / 94 DE

The 2018 Gigondas Hominis Fides is another huge success for the team at Saint Cosme, boasting complex aromas of roses, dusty earth, cigar box, asphalt and dark fruit. The plums and black cherries expand on the full-bodied palate, sweeping across in supple waves of flavor without ever becoming overbearing, buoyed by notes of cracked pepper and anise, then finishing in silky pools of lingering flavor. --Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate

One of the wines of the vintage, 2018 Gigondas Hominis Fides comes from a single parcel of old vines planted in more limestone/sandy soils not far from the estate (it’s just across the street from the Le Claux lieu-dit). This dense purple/ruby hued beauty boasts a sensational bouquet of ripe black raspberries, mulled cherries, black licorice, loamy soil, and a kiss of camphor, as well as plenty of peppery herb-like nuances. With full-bodied richness, it hits the palate with a seamless, elegant texture, no hard edges, building tannins and one seriously good finish. It’s not a powerhouse like the 2007 or 2016, yet has incredible finesse as well as purity of fruit and length. It benefits from a quick decant and is guaranteed to put a smile on your face any time over the coming 15+ years. Jeb Dunnuck

This varietal Grenache is sourced from 90-year-old vines planted in clay-limestone soils just across the road from famed Le Claux. Fermented in whole clusters, it's Herculean in frame yet luminescent, offering sun-kissed red-cherry and strawberry flavors edged by sprays of salt, white pepper and smoke. While approachable already, it should hit peak from 2023 and improve well through 2035. - Anna Lee C. Iijima, Wine Enthusiast

Saturated ruby-red. This is deeply perfumed, smoke- and mineral-accented and Chambordlike. Cherry, blueberry, potpourri and exotic spice aromas show fine definition. Alluringly sweet and expansive on the palate, offering impressively concentrated yet energetic red and dark berry preserve, fruitcake and lavender pastille flavors, with hints of licorice and botanical herbs. The extremely long, penetrating finish shows an intense mineral cut, an echo of sappy red fruit and well-judged tannins that come in late. These vines were planted in 1902. Onethird new oak. - Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

This is dense and dark, with lots of currant and fig paste flavors that have melded with licorice root, singed apple wood and warm earth notes, followed by a long, tobacco- and garrigue-edged finish. Youthfully gutsy, but with everything in place and plenty of energy, so this should cellar well. Best from 2022 through 2036. 215 cases made, 37 cases imported. — JM, Wine Spectator

Deep-seated cinnamon and nutmeg spice. Very rounded and full this year, thick with mouthcoating ripe tannins. It has the lift you'd want from Hominis Fides with exceptionally smooth tannins. The alcohol is a little raised on the finish but this has exceptional length and is velour textured. Very big framed in this vintage. Good lift and pep here, it's needed for the long term. Made with Grenache planted in 1902 on Miocene calcareous sand. Single vineyard. No destemming. 12 months maturation in French oak barriques: 20% new, 50% 1-year-old, 30% 2-year-old. Unfiltered. Organic. - Matt Walls, Decanter