Cornas

A classic blend from vines of up to 55 years of age,
with 30 percent of the stems preserved in the
assemblage, this is an outstanding Cornas which
effortlessly combines rich, dark fruit with hints of
pepper, scrub, charcuterie and liquorice. The tannins
are poised and delicate, antithetical to the popular
concept of Cornas, yet gently, quietly persuasive and
running along the boardwalk of the wine’s powerful
and far from pedestrian appeal. Drink 2022-2028.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

Nicolas destemmed half the crop in 2016 and selected carefully, attentive to the possible impact of prolonged spring rainfall. Yields were reduced therefore, but there was no hail and no frost. Dense and dark, the wine has a hint of the sauvage behind the fruit, an edge which will guarantee the potential for lengthy cellaring and a fascinating evolution, at the culmination of which it should be relished with a game bird. Drink 2020-2025.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

The decomposed granite slopes of Les Mazards, rather alarmingly known locally as ‘gore’, are the source of this famous cuvée. Twenty-five percent of stems are added to the vat for a cuvaison of four weeks, then 24 months in cask, 20 percent of which are new. There is no Vieilles Fontaines this year, so all the grapes have gone into the Vieilles Vignes, which repays the compliment and is suitably magisterial and complex. Fresh and yet imperiously powerful, this wine will be one for the long, longer and longest terms.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer

Albéric Mazoyer, the charismatic sidekick to Alain Voge, is positive about 2013: there was no hail in Cornas and the late growing cycle was actually beneficial in this, the warmest of the northern enclaves, concentrating flavour but eschewing excess of any kind. The results are as spectacular as the volumes are scant.

The steep vines here are located in Patou, Les Mazards and Saumon and their age runs the gamut from old-ish (35 years) to very old indeed (100 years). The grapes are mainly destemmed and the wine is a superb illustration of all that is great in Cornas; austere, yet generous, full-bodied and tannic, yet with a latent sweetness which will come to the fore over a number of years and provide a perfect contrast to burgeoning savoury characteristics.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer

It makes a nice change to state that a winery is far from state-of-the-art; M Paris makes wine in the chaotic splendour behind a large but only half-built house in the backstreets of Cornas; so far, so unpromising. His wines, however, are sublime and it should come as no surprise that he has now joined the first rank of Cornas producers. This is more than appropriate and very good news for us, as we bought the wines from his Geynale vineyard when it was owned by his uncle Robert Michel, and have always considered it to be among the very best plots in the village. The 2013 Cornas Granit 60 Vielles Vignes is serious stuff. Inky colored and loaded with cassis, black raspberry, violets and licorice, it has beautiful acidity in its full-bodied, ripe, polished style. It has rock-solid mid-palate concentrated, and terrific length, so give it a handful of years in the cellar and drink bottles through 2025. Like all of Paris’s Cornas releases, it sees only older barrels.
Jeb Dunnuck - Wine Advocate Issue#216 Dec 2014

Yves’ passion and energy is well-known and it was warming to see his reaction to our own enthusiasm for this cuvée, which was one we had not planned to buy. Like the best Cornas, it has a ‘lift’ to it with plenty of fresh, generous fruit. Easy on the ‘abv’ too, a really fine example of a Cornas that will develop very well mid-term.
Tom Cave - Cellar Plan Manager 

A rich, elegant wine with a wealth of fruit and a powerful savoury backdrop, draped in fine tannins, this is pretty much archetypical Cornas, and definitely worthy of cellaring.

Rhône 2009 - Berrys Recommends
50+ year old vines show their class in Dom. du Tunnel Cornas wine. Pure, dark blackcurrant fruit bursts from the glass, followed by a classy, velvety palate, brimming with light black pepper and ripe fruits. The finish is mouthfilling as one hopes from Cornas, but equally elegant. Great balance and complexity at this price.
(Hamish Orr-Ewing,  BBR Fine Wine) No fewer than fifteen parcels, some with 50-year-old-vines, are assembled in Stephane’s Cornas, which was bottled at the end of 2010. Lavender, licorice and a wild hint are all characteristics of the wine, together with traditionally powerful tannins and an elegant finish, perhaps a little less traditional for Cornas.

A classic assemblage from vines of up to 55 years of age, this is an outstanding Cornas which effortlessly combines rich dark fruit with hints of pepper, scrub, charcuterie and licorice. As always with Stéphane there is a sweet fruit core and an elegant finish.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer, February 2012

A thoroughly deserved elevation to two stars in Le Revue des Vins de France (there are only three producers with three stars and not many more with two in the Northern Rhône) could not have happened to a nicer man than Stéphane Robert. To get Cornas right one must not lose sight of its history as ‘le vin noir’, almost impenetrable in its youth, but one must also pay careful attention to the purity of fruit and tannin management .This he has done with great aplomb.

The Emperor Charlemagne was, apparently, a devotee of the wine from Cornas. Referring to it, for obvious reasons, as vin noir, this example from 100-year-old vines borrows this soubriquet. The resulting wine is suitably saturnine in appearance and then has intense high velocity sweetness in the mouth. Sauvage, herbal with hitherto overwhelming tannins, this is one for the long, longer, longest terms and will eventually come into its own with gibier and/or strong cheese.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer

Stéphane and Sandrine have built what I think a Valence Estate Agent would describe as a ‘dream house’ in the steep Cornas hillside behind St Peray. An unfeasible amount of glass ensures that the views of the serpentine Rhône are spectacular indeed; let us hope that window taxes have been abolished in this part of the Ardèche. Behind the property lies the eponymous tunnel, a former railway track long since abandoned, but now destined for summer parties and receptions. Stéphane is pleased with his 2011 wines; he praises their aromatic harmony and the quality of the fruit.

A streamlined Cornas, with tension as well as a wealth of fine fruit – nothing at all overdone or out of kilter like some wines from this area which can be just too dense. South facing vines keeping their cool due to their high altitude seems to be the trick – a fine Cornas from one of Hermitage’s lesser-known lights and terrific value too.
Tom Cave, Cellar Plan Manager

From the named lieu-dit to the north of the named village, this is a worthy illustration of both the skill of the winemaker and the renaissance of Cornas in general. Herbal and rich, with hints of jambon cru and liqueur-steeped cherry, Les Eygats marries sweet and savoury, Carnival and Lent, with effortless aplomb.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer

Ferraton is owned by Chapoutier, but run as an autonomous entity. For a long time it seemed to underperform, almost as if shocked in the headlights of the energetic charisma of its benefactor. The potential of the vineyards, some of which are located on the very best sites on the Hill of Hermitage, has never been disputed. Now, with Bordelais winemaker Damien Brisset firmly in control, one begins to see, at last, the realisation of potential. I am pleased to have ‘stuck with’ them over the years, as the maturing vintages seldom fail to please and the quality of the current vintage gets better and better. 

These 80-year-old vines are located in the Mazards commune, just to the north of the village. The aging is for 18 months this time, and this time 20% of the casks are new. The wine exhibits ripe, resonant fruit, pure and very fine with a savoury backdrop, and a long, appropriately tannic finish.
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer

Alain Voge is one of the doyens of Cornas. He was unwell when I last visited in November, so we all wish him well. His long-standing and highly able partner Albéric de Mazoyer has kept the ship afloat with his customary brilliance and 2012 looks brilliant indeed, especially at the top end of this range. He praises the vintage for its charm and concentration, citing it as a year that is low on yield, high on aromatics and very high on quality.

Aged for 20 months and the fruit of suitably old vines, mainly from the lieux-dits of Mazard and La Côte, this is an outstanding wine. Traditional in its saturnine flavour profile, autumnal and profound, yet forward-looking in its structure; its architectural integrity presages a more than satisfactory evolution. Drink 2022-2030+.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

The Chailles is sourced from 12 different plots on granitic terraces, mainly above the village itself. After a generous four week maceration, it is aged for sixteen months in cask, the wood generally five or six years old. The wine is tightly sprung, with aromatics of violets, raspberry and bitumen and then a core which is rich, ripe and generously textured.
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer

Alain Voge is one of the doyens of Cornas. He was unwell when I last visited in November, so we all wish him well. His long-standing and highly able partner Albéric de Mazoyer has kept the ship afloat with his customary brilliance and 2012 looks brilliant indeed, especially at the top end of this range. He praises the vintage for its charm and concentration, citing it as a year that is low on yield, high on aromatics and very high on quality.

More masculine, study and robust, the Vieilles Vignes cuvée is far closer to most people’s idea of a typical Cornas. Meaty, rich and tannic, this is definitely a keeper and the age of its vines vary from 25 to 90-yearsold. Powerful and glorious, it is sourced from plots in Chaillot, Les Mezards and Les Reynards.
Simon Field MW, BBR Buyer

Clape, Michel, Juge, Voge… There is a hypnotic monosyllabic magic to some of the great names of Cornas in days of yore and both Voge and Clape continue to fly the flag and do so with great aplomb. Fiercely traditional and yet disarmingly modern, these wines provide the key to the reputation of the Cornas that was and the outstanding quality of the Cornas that is now.

The vines for this wine are located mainly in the lieux-dits of Chaillot and Les Reynards. The wine is fermented in stainless steel and then matured in cask for 18 months. Stylish and feminine, the wine has a high-toned dark fruit and plush, expensive tannins; the perfume is memorable as with all great wines from this oft misunderstood appellation.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer

Albéric Mazoyer, the charismatic sidekick to Alain Voge, is positive about 2013: there was no hail in Cornas and the late growing cycle was actually beneficial in this, the warmest of the northern enclaves, concentrating flavour but eschewing excess of any kind. The results are as spectacular as the volumes are scant.

The vines in this part of the famous commune are over 40-years-old; the soil, if that’s the right word, is pure granite and the wine is a definitive statement of finest Cornas. Something recalls the best examples of Hermitage, that is to say the intimation of femininity behind a solid uncompromising masculine façade.  Thierry describes this pleasing phenomenon in terms of aromatics of peony and rose.  Both of these are clearly discernible.
Simon Field MW, Rhône Wine Buyer

Driving up from Cornas village to Thierry’s remote winery, following his mother, whose driving was adventurous to say the least, suddenly turned into a scene from a Buñuel film: the mists descended and then suddenly the breaks screeched as we encountered a large black van, the leading vehicle in what turned out to be a funeral cortege.  We were spared and the audience with the magus was well worth the risk. His philosophy  focuses on whole bunch pressing , pigeage au pied and minimal sulphur and is essentially traditional; he has added the extra dimension of micro-parcel selection and exceptionally low yields, both of which were perhaps less popular with his forebears. Be that as it may, the 2012s demonstrate, once again, the sheer skill of the man.