I’m hard to please when it comes to Cornas. Some bottles are just too traditional – rustic, a tad hard, and too much barnyard. Others are too modern – glossy, a tad ripe and a bit indistinct. Gilles is usually a sweet spot producer for me. But this bottle left me nonplussed. It almost drank like a glou-glou Beaujolais – plenty of juicy blackberry fruit and uplifting acids. But for the life of me I couldn’t detect any tannins. There wasn’t much grip. I need me some savory notes or just a wee bit of funk. I want a beauty mark in a bottle of Cornas to hold my attention. This was just too easy-going and bad QPR at $55. I will try the regular Cornas bottle in a bit to compare and contrast.
This is the first time I’ve had a wine from this particular plot. Any one else have more satisfying results? Is this typical?
This is the wine from a newer vineyard planting, higher up on the plateau above the older, steep part of Cornas, right? Richer soil, younger vines, so maybe not a big surprise?
I bought a few bottles of a new vigneron’s 2017 VdF Syrah which was sold as something that will be Cornas in future vintages. It drinks very much like what you describe here but was priced at 16.50 € a bottle which seems somewhat reasonable, although of course one can get really serious and structured Saint Joseph with just a few extra Euros.
Maybe leave some for tomorrow? My note on this wine:
11/17/2018
Well, here’s another very easy-drinking and fresh 2016 wine from the Northern Rhone. This has a pretty, lifted floral/fruity nose strongly accented by darker savory notes that intensify on day 2. On the palate it’s all perfectly ripe, juicy fruit (raspberry/boysenberry if one must), autumnal savory notes, and, with lots of air, a mouthwatering mineral finish. There is just the barest sense of tannins. This is very good and will probably mature in the shorter term. The 2015 blew me away with its power and complexity and this just isn’t that, but that’s no crime.
I’ve received many emails saying the same, at higher pricing than $55. most shops in US I believe are $70-75+.
I tried the wine a few weeks ago, and (for me) it showed some heat… didn’t understand the QPR at $75.
I think it’s similar to what Balthazar is doing with his Sans Soufre, which is a fun wine but in a glou glou kind of way, which isn’t meant for aging or to be very representative of Cornas imo.
In fairness, the 16 Balthazar Chaillot is spectacular and I went big on it, so that’s not necessarily a criticism to me. Gilles is consistently very good, happy to buy it every year.
Had another bottle of this recently, liked it better. I think it’s significantly better than Balthazar’s Sans Soufre, though I also don’t think it’s as good as Gilles’ Cornas bottling either.
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