Winemaker Notes
'Patou' is the name of the small vineyard parcel located to the south of the village of Cornas. This pure Syrah wine showcases the true soul of Cornas: deeply colored, robustly structured, endlessly satisfying. Black and purple fruits mix with silky tannins and hints of licorice and soy.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Young and unevolved, the 2021 Cornas Patou is nevertheless promising and has the vintage's fresh, lively style as well as elevated acidity. Ripe black and blue fruits, scorched earth, iron, and some meatiness all define the nose, and it's medium-bodied, has good concentration, and ripe tannins. It's going to require bottle age.
Range: 91-93 -
James Suckling
Blueberries, currants, dried herbs, violets and mild spices. Medium body with firm tannins. Structured with a juicy core of cherries and fresh acidity. Crunchy, salivating finish.
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Wine Spectator
An attractive and pure style, with lifted floral and potpourri aromas and good freshness to the cherry and wild red berry flavors. Though light on its feet, this has real substance, with iron-edged tannins keeping a firm grip while the intensity builds. Best from 2025 through 2032. 500 cases made, 83 cases imported.
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.