Cornas tasting - TNs

WINE TALK
1

Great tasting put on by the Jeroboam Club in Bristol (UK) this week.

Cornas Granit 30 2010 – Vincent Paris
Vivid fruit aromas with a slightly raw edge. Bright on the palate with crisp red fruit profile. Very primary. Whistle clean winemaking in the modern style. With air, more floral and pepper Syrah notes emerge. Slightly anonymous. 15/20

Cornas VV 2007 – Alain Voge
Very succulent fruit and some oak on the nose. Initially this is a wine labouring beneath a thick lacquer of wood but everntually some vibrant fruit and more interesting spice tones come through. Slightly constrained by the barrel character, this nonetheless has lovely acidity, snap and length. 16+/20

Cornas VV 2004 – Alain Voge
Still youthful but evolving some leather, musk and scented elements. Very slightly rustic on the palate but in a charming way. Wild and unconstrained vis a vis the 2007. Nicely savoury with a firm tannin structure. Long and complete. 16.5/20
Whilst the 2007 is probably a better vintage (the finish was really promising) the 2004 was the better wine on the night.

Cornas La Geynale 2005 – Robert Michel
Complex, attractive and still pretty youthful. Nice whole bunch action on the nose and a hint of (positive) leather. Really taut structure with a whip of tannin. Tight and grainy. The mid-palate fades just a touch. Finishes with a ferrous, mineral grip. 17/20

Cornas La Geynale 1995 – Robert Michel
Mature bouquet with a slight oxidative / fading note but also some very pretty floral tones. Initial flavours of mushrooms, leather and herbs. With time this builds and pulls itself together. Has a similar ferrous seam to the 2005 but the structure is a touch angular. A bit coarse on the finish. 16/20

Cornas Reynard 2007 – Thierry Allemand
Pronounced and intense aromas of flowers and specifically violets. Very pure and lifted. Focused, blue fruit characters. The palate has a delicacy with no lack of structure or intensity. Fine if just a tad simple at the back of the palate. Pure and lithe. 17/20

Cornas Reynard 1999 – Thierry Allemand
Cool fruit aromas with complex whole bunch notes and some incense scent. A touch of (positive / complexing) brett – leather – and olives. Silky and lithe on the palate – similar texture to the 2007. Complex, savoury and fresh, with layers of flavour. The finish is long, mineral and vital and the wine grows and expands over the course of the evening. 18.5/20

Cornas 2004 – Auguste Clape
Slightly subdued and sullen nose. Savoury and stern, with some ripe, briery fruit at its core. The palate is surprisingly ripe and ready. Tannins are fairly airy, giving a supporting, pillowy, cushion to the fruit. Tendre style but then dull on the mid-palate. Ultimately a bit disappointing given the attractive front palate. 16/20

Cornas 2000 – Auguste Clape
Nicely evolved with floral, leather and hedgerow elements. Complex palate with some meaty notes. Has a lovely, ripe mid-palate with plenty of fruit. Sweet, expansive and perfumed. Drinking really well. 18/20

Cornas 1995 Auguste Clape
Evolved bouquet of sandalwood, meat and spices. Has a distinct note of dried petals. The palate has a lightness of touch with a fine, silky texture. Delicate. Becomes a bit frayed on the finish but is still lacy and pretty. 16.5/20

Cornas 1989 Auguste Clape
Much more intense and pronounced aromas than the 1995. Really bright and still vital on the palate. Has flavours of tapenade and spice. Gaining a silkiness towards the finish. Fine boned. 17.5/20

Cornas 1988 Auguste Clape
Very primary and still youthful. Brilliantly vibrant and appears younger than the 1989. Full and sappy on the mid-palate. Vigourous. Has plenty of pepper and great crunch to the profile and structure. The finish falls away just the slightest bit. 17.5/20

Cornas St Pierre 1995 – Jaboulet
The nose has a fine and lively core of ripe, red fruit. Compared to the other wines this is quite an individual expression of Cornas. Quite lifted and aromatic in style but neither complex nor particularly exciting. 16+/20

Cornas 1994 – Noel Verset
Mature and tertiary with aromas of warm cinders and ash. The smoky element is carried on to the palate. This is extremely elegant and slender with a delicate poise. Perfumed and very long. Delicious. 18+/20

2

Thanks for the TNs. Plenty of good Cornas producers in the mix.

A lot of the wines are fairly young and your notes seem to show them as generally more open that I would expect.

3

They were double decanted around 9am for an evening tasting but I taste a lot of young wine for my job so am probably more tolerant than many may be. In addition, most of the youngest wines were from growers sufficiently modern to be making pretty approachable styles. Nothing was searingly tannic or truly tough to assess.

4

Really interesting notes. Thanks much. Voge used to be available at my favorite local haunt. No more.

As for Allemand and Clape…sigh. What was once affordable.

5

What a great line-up! That’s a tasting I would love to attend. I enjoyed my recent '95 Clape and '07 Allemand quite a bit more than you did, but they were consumed solo, not in a comparative tasting. Interesting thoughts on the Paris. I have not tried this Cornas producer, and have refrained out of a belief that it may be more modern stylisticlly, though have heard differing opinions here.

6

Nice lineup
I love Allemand…

7

Great tasting, great notes! Thank you.

Robert,
Paris is definitely worth looking-into. I wouldn’t call his wines modern, but they are quite clean.

8

Great notes. There’s nothing quite like Verset.

9

Matt – Thanks for the posting.

I’m curious what you meant by Paris being modern. I think of them being pretty traditional, albeit clean.

10

John - I was referring to the whistle clean profile as the result of a modern wine making style.

11

I love the paradigm clean=modern.
Or do I?

The Robert Michel Geynale featured in Matthew’s tasting is now his nephew Vincent Paris’ Geynale. Amazing vineyard, a full hectare, with 80-120 year old vines. Allemand puts his wee bit of Geynale into his Reynard, Paris puts his bit of upper Reynard into his Geynale. The Geynale '12 is 100% whole cluster, native yeasts, aged in neutral wood (2, 3, and 4 year old barrels).

If they’re considered modern, that’s because it is 2014.

12

I’m not much of a rhone person, but in light of the discussion i thought i’d post this note here. Hope it’s of interest.

2007 Domaine Vincent Paris, Cornas “Granit 60”. Two hours in the decanter, then consumed over the course of the evening. The nose is striking–at first very herbal and spearminty, later bacon and pepper come to dominate. Great intensity. In the mouth there’s some leather and really juicy blackberry providing freshness; with air, a lot of black tea, too. Very taut with a medium-long finish. There’s significant tannic residue, so i’d certainly give it more time in the cellar.

I don’t drink much quality syrah so i cant say anything about where this falls in the cornas pantheon, but i was pretty impressed. My one complaint is that the alcohol (13 %) hit me a little harder than i’m used to.

Elliot

13

Nice note. I haven’t had that particular wine, but that matches my general expectations for Paris, and sounds pretty traditional.

Michael

14

+1.

15

Alfert the '07 Allemand u popped was the Chaillot not the Reynard

16

Fwiw, in 07 Vincent was experimenting with zero added sulfur a la Allemand’s sans soufre.
In particular is his Geynale.
He has stopped this practice, due to the instability it created.
Read between the lines…

17

I opened a 2011 Granit 60 last night, and it was drinking really well. Big dusty tannins on the finish, but great fruit and savory elements. Classic cornas, and a reasonable alternative to Clape and Allemand. Robert Alfert, you would like this wine.

Michael

18

Could that explain why that wine tasted to primary and grapey on release? Not sure I see a connection, but I remember being distinctly unimpressed with it, where I have loved many Geynale bottlings in earlier vintages.

19

…And at a much lower market price. Thanks for the note - I have a 6-pack of this in the cellar, bought without trying first (and have never had a Paris Cornas)…your note is encouraging!

Cheers,
Blair

20

amazing and timely post. have a cornas dinner of our own in couple weeks with a nice sized vertical of clape cornas along with some other producers.

will post notes.