Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Ripe, intense and very pure, offering a gorgeously sleek, polished beam of cassis, plum sauce and raspberry fruit, lined with mouthwatering iron, lavender and rosemary notes. The long finish has serious cut. Best from 2015 through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
In contrast to the 2015 vintage, the 2012 Cornas Vieilles Vignes exceeds my expectations for its aging potential. Showing exceptionally well today and maintaining an insolent youthfulness, it unfurls from the glass with aromas of tobacco, dark wild berries, spices, plums, pencil lead and licorice. Medium- to full-bodied, structured and deep, layered and textured, it has a robust chassis of tannins and racy acids, culminating in a long, licorice-touched finish. The delicate rusticity, imparted by 20% whole bunches, combined with its freshness, renders this wine a standout in the context of its vintage.
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.