Who Are Your Top Cornas Producers and Why Do I Keep Buying?

[Robert_M_yers]

If there is someone that is a N Rhone freak that wasn’t lucky enough to get Juge while he was around, feel free to drop me a PM.

Be happy to share a bottle.

Would need you to send me a FedEx label, though.

That’s the offer of the year

[Ramon_C]

If there is someone that is a N Rhone freak that wasn’t lucky enough to get Juge while he was around, feel free to drop me a PM.

Be happy to share a bottle.

Would need you to send me a FedEx label, though.

That’s the offer of the year

Indeed. Great generosity.

[Nathan_V]

A bit of thread drift on CdR above but other than a few specialty wines labeled nominally CdR like Eric Texier’s CdR wines or Dom Ste. Anne when available, I’ve come to not understand ever buying them. Personal choice. Could also be related to what I think about (most) Grenache-dominated French wines….

Speaking of Eric’s wines, I know I’ve said this before, but the Pergaud wines hit such a sweet spot for me that they make up a large portion of my N. Rhône wines (roughly 30%). I rarely find better wines from Syrah for my palate.

Full disclosure: I consider Eric a friend and the reason I like his wines might be because we like a lot of the same wines, although he does like Juge a lot more than I do (no one’s perfect). We’ve had many bottles of Verset together over the years.

For Cornas I have
Allemand
Verset
Lionnet
Clape

But not more than a few cases of any of them. I like Gilles, I don’t know why I don’t have any. I also have a bottle of Mikael Bourg ready to try on Zachary’s rec a while back. Looking forward to it.

[JT_Ng]

I’ve found over the past three years that I can’t help myself in the Cornas buying department. These damned wines are so much harsher in their youth then other Northern Rhones but for some reason…I have visions of grandeur in their far off maturity. Below are my top holdings in order of bottles. Who are your top five and why have you prioritized those specific producers? Who am I missing that I should be seeking out (other than Verset)?

1. Alain Voge
2. Franck Balthazar
3. Allemand
4. Clape
5. Domaine du Tunnel
6. Courbis
7. Johann Michel
8. Marcel Juge
9. Vincent Paris

Dumien-Serrette if you can find it. Tiny estate.

[Warren_Taranow]

FYI, both the Mon Coeur and the Balthazar CdR are Southern Rhone blends, with grenache, syrah and mourvedre, so naturally more approachable young, and not really comparable to Cornas, St Joseph, Crozes or Hermitage.

Maybe the blend has changed. My Balthazar CdR’s were 2011’s, and were 100% Syrah…and fantastic despite the vintage. They were also Sans Soufre. They’re also all gone.

Cheers,
Warren

As usual, John’s correct. The recent blend is 60:40 Grenache:Syrah. I found this on an importer’s website.
However, this was one of the rare times I was correct too! The 2011 I drank was 100% Syrah! Even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then!

Cheers,
Warren

Warren, what you drank is now mostly the Sans Soufre bottling.

Greg,
That’s exactly what I had. The purity of fruit was stunning.
Cheers,
Warren

[Jeff_King]

Cue this thread being bumped in ~15 years when posters start ruminating on the prices of Gilles+Lionnet+Balthazar

Looking back in my records to see how much Cornas I’ve gone through …. I see my first bottle of Juge cost me $8.62, minus case discount. Voge about the same. Clape and Verset I got wholesale from the distributor I was selling for at the time. There was very little demand for this stuff.

My budget matters … so, while I still have a few bottles of Allemand and Clape left, I don’t go there any more. From my current standpoint, in rough order…

Guillaume Gilles
Balthazar
Tunnel
Courbis
Vincent Paris
Johann Michel

Gilles is the only one where I find quality and value so compelling, I buy every vintage. A couple new ones to try after reading this thread though!

[LasseK1]

A name that has not been mentioned: Matthieu Barret (yes yes, its made in a natty style).

Balthazar is by far my biggest Cornas holding. The Cornas ‘Sans Soufre Ajouté’ can be great young, both 16 and 18 was very nice after release.

And I do not agree on Balthazar’s CDR. It has Grenache in it and is way to heavy. His Crozes-Hermitage with one or two years of bottle age on the other hand is top QPR. The 2018 is drinking very well now.

[Torbjorn_Dahlgren]

Clape
Allemand
Paris
Balthazar
Gilles

Would not mind more Voge, Barret, Lionnet, Fauterie and Verset - but one has to prioritize

[Warren_Taranow]

A name that has not been mentioned: Matthieu Barret (yes yes, its made in a natty style).

Balthazar is by far my biggest Cornas holding. The Cornas ‘Sans Soufre Ajouté’ can be great young, both 16 and 18 was very nice after release.

And I do not agree on Balthazar’s CDR. It has Grenache in it and is way to heavy. His Crozes-Hermitage with one or two years of bottle age on the other hand is top QPR. The 2018 is drinking very well now.

I think the sans soufre CdR is 100% syrah, and delicious. I’ve never had the Crozes.

Cheers,
Warren

[LasseK1]

A name that has not been mentioned: Matthieu Barret (yes yes, its made in a natty style).

Balthazar is by far my biggest Cornas holding. The Cornas ‘Sans Soufre Ajouté’ can be great young, both 16 and 18 was very nice after release.

And I do not agree on Balthazar’s CDR. It has Grenache in it and is way to heavy. His Crozes-Hermitage with one or two years of bottle age on the other hand is top QPR. The 2018 is drinking very well now.

I think the sans soufre CdR is 100% syrah, and delicious. I’ve never had the Crozes.

Cheers,
Warren

Fair enough. I have never seen the Sans Soufre CDR in my market. Only the “normal” one.

[Greg_K]

A name that has not been mentioned: Matthieu Barret (yes yes, its made in a natty style).

Balthazar is by far my biggest Cornas holding. The Cornas ‘Sans Soufre Ajouté’ can be great young, both 16 and 18 was very nice after release.

And I do not agree on Balthazar’s CDR. It has Grenache in it and is way to heavy. His Crozes-Hermitage with one or two years of bottle age on the other hand is top QPR. The 2018 is drinking very well now.

I think the sans soufre CdR is 100% syrah, and delicious. I’ve never had the Crozes.

Cheers,
Warren

I don’t think it’s made anymore.

[Keith_A_k_e_r_s]

And I do not agree on Balthazar’s CDR. It has Grenache in it and is way to heavy. His Crozes-Hermitage with one or two years of bottle age on the other hand is top QPR. The 2018 is drinking very well now.

I’m holding a bottle of the 18 Les Peyrouses CdR in my hand and it says 100% Syrah on the back label. I’m likely opening it this weekend and can post a note.

[MikeL238]

Balthazar has a Peyrouses bottle?

[Keith_A_k_e_r_s]

Balthazar has a Peyrouses bottle?

That’s what’s listed on my bottle and it’s brought in by Wilson-Daniels, so they likely won’t be mucking about on funny labeling

[Zachary_Ross]

Peyrouses is Guillaume Gilles, no?

[AD_Northup]

Alain Voge produced a 2018 CdR from Peyrouses, only one I’ve heard of except the Gilles. Please post a photo of the label when you can

[Keith_A_k_e_r_s]

Alain Voge produced a 2018 CdR from Peyrouses, only one I’ve heard of except the Gilles. Please post a photo of the label when you can

No prob!

https://m.imgur.com/a/ylbxbv1

[MikeL238]

Alain Voge produced a 2018 CdR from Peyrouses, only one I’ve heard of except the Gilles. Please post a photo of the label when you can

No prob!

https://m.imgur.com/a/ylbxbv1

That’s Alain Voge not Balthazar…

[Keith_A_k_e_r_s]

That’s Alain Voge not Balthazar…

and that’s why I should probably not post and watch a webinar at the same time

[AD_Northup]

Alain Voge produced a 2018 CdR from Peyrouses, only one I’ve heard of except the Gilles. Please post a photo of the label when you can

No prob!

https://m.imgur.com/a/ylbxbv1

That’s Alain Voge not Balthazar…