Decanted for roughly 2 1/2 hours. I don’t have a ton of experience with Cornas, but kept hearing that the wines would be right in my wheelhouse – a generous combination of savory with complimentary fruit. They weren’t jiving as the wine was a nice dark magenta out of the bottle. From my first sniff as the wine tumbled into the decanter, I knew this was going to be my kind of wine. An intoxicating mix of sauvage, meat, earth, and intense dark berries. The nose was literally a meal unto itself and led me to exclaim to my wife that dinner was no longer needed. The palate was tight at first but after awhile reluctantly gave everything a carnivore desires including bacon fat and grilled meats. Just think of a heaping plate of grilled meats topped with an unsweetened dark berry marmalade and finished with a squeeze of acid and sneaky tannin. The wine is very young but expertly exhibiting the traits of a traditional Cornas. As I said, a meal unto itself. 95 pts.
This is a beautiful note. Thank you for posting.
I agree, really enjoyed reading your TN. Thanks.
A good young Cornas is kind of the equivalent of your profile pic.
Which is a good thing.
Corey, Rick, and Jim…
Appreciate that. It was a fun note to write as the wine was everything I had hoped. I can’t wait to dig deeper in Cornas with other wines.
Any favorites or rec’s?
I’m pretty much a neophyte when it comes to Cornas as well, but it was your note that encouraged me to buy three bottles of that wine.
I was also looking to explore Cornas when I picked up my bottle. Oh man, it is going to be really hard keeping my mitts off of it now… maybe I can find another bottle somewhere.
Based on your love of that funky Washington syrah, which ain’t cheap, you owe it to yourself to buy some Allemand and Clape. Neither are cheap, both breaking $100 now, but they are benchmark. See if you can find some with age on it. I bought some '95 Clape from Crush last year for $125, and it was stellar. Vintages '09-'10 Clape are amazing, but massive, easily 15-20 years to hit ideal peak.
Levet is cut from the same cloth, perhaps even more rustic - it’s Cotie Rotie but blind you’d call Cornas.
For mid-week drinking, Clape’s Vin des Amis is a nice baby Cornas. Around $20-$25, and vintages 2009-12 have been very strong.
I’m rather new to cornas as well. I have a bottle of 10 Vogue Chailles and your note got me excited about drinking it. I just purchased some Thierry but it is on summer hold and won’t arrive until this fall. I need to purchase something locally to fill in while I was it. Great note BTW; if I didn’t own one I would have been online looking for one.
Robert,
Thanks for the advice/recommendations. I do have a few bottles of Levet and crakced one, it was fantastic. I’ll look for more and maybe even save for a bit and by some Allemand and Clape. I’ll try the Clape VDA this week!
Rick,
Thanks! With you being in the PNWest we should get together sometime and drink some N. Rhones!!
I like Voge - and I like this wine …
However - both the 1990 and 1991 are close to maturity now … if you haven´t bought a full case … it is a waste in my eyes to try more than a bottle (to get an idea) over the next 10-15 years …
I guess there are many people who never will have a chance to appreciate a great wine in its apogee - simply because all bottles have been drunk in their youth …
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You may be saving more than a little bit for the 2010 Clape. It seems TWA rated it 100 points. Vinopolis has a few bottles now offered at $299 for 750ml. Their offer on 2011 Voge is much more reasonable however and probably worth a look. But in line with what Gerhard says above, best to open it 2025-2030 or so.
What’s the style of the Voge Chailles? I read the whole thread, but I’m still not sure. Thanks.
One of my pivotal (and most memorable) wine experiences was drinking a perfectly mature and balanced 96 voge vv a couple of years ago. I bought it for $50 a few months before i drank it which was a lot for me at the time (and still is, though I’m much more willing to pull the trigger at this point). I still beat myself up for not buying the last 4 they had in stock. Some say the wines are too modern, but I find them to be in that sweet spot of savory, fruity, clean and interesting (very northern rhone) w/o at all falling into an anonymous international style.
We had the 99 VV recently. Pretty good, but I’m not as big of a fan of the type as others might be.
What, exactly, is the type? I’m not quite sure myself. I’ve enjoyed nearly every Voge I’ve tried over the years (perhaps 4-5). While I wouldn’t put them in Verset or Allemand territory (few are), they are not anathema to me.
I think that’s a solid summary. Not my favorite Cornas, but I like them and think they are well-priced. Just bought the 2012 VV for sub-$60 and the base domaine for much less. This is my alternative to California syrah, crushes anything in that category IMHO. Paris Cornas is built along the same lines, but I much prefer the Voge.
I see the 2010 Chailles locally for $40. Might give one a try based on all of this.
Of Cornas overall. Maybe I should have been more specific and said ‘fan of the region’ rather than ‘type’.
I can only really use them when having seriously wine geeky friends over.