Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Lots of blackberry, cassis, roasted meat and violet aromas on the nose. Medium-bodied with fine, firm tannins. The volume is impressive for the 12.5% alcohol content. Creamy with lots of succulent cherries and bright acidity on the palate. Vibrant finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
A meaty, sanguine version, with a lot of floral perfume as well. Black cherry and boysenberry flavors merge with notes of iron and well-integrated toasty oak spice. Supple and well-knit, with tangy acidity driving tension and length. Best from 2025 through 2035.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Juicy red and blue fruits, spring flowers, violet, and hints of iron and black pepper all emerge from the 2021 Cornas Les Chailles, a medium-bodied Cornas from this terrific producer that's balanced, has remarkable purity, fine tannins, and outstanding length.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Distinguished as a fine Syrah producing zone since the 18th century, Cornas, like Cote Rotie, is made up of vineyards covering steep and hard-to-work, granite terraces. As a result the region’s wines fell out of favor during the mid 20th century when the global market was more focused on bulk wines and vineyards that yielded high quantities. It wasn’t until the 1980s when a group of energetic young winemakers reestablished the integrity of these precipitous terraces and also began making an ultra-modern style of Syrah. The new style didn’t need a decade before it was drinkable and could reach the consumer faster than the region’s traditional wines. Given the new quality coming out of the zone, its popularity once again soared and today a good Cornas can easily challenge many of those from Hermitage. Characteristics of Syrah from Cornas include teeth-staining flavors of blackberry jam, plum, pepper, violets, smoked game, charcoal, chalk dust and smoke.