Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Confidence 2009
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Robert
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Winemaker Notes
Pair with red meat, meat casseroles, grilled meat, game and cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even richer, the 2009 Cornas Confidence is a kick-ass wine of huge proportions. Its opaque purple color is followed by sumptuous aromas of ink, blueberries, blackberries and subtle smoke, and it hits the palate with resounding power and flavor authority. In the finish, tannins kick in, and this 2009 needs 7-10 years of cellaring. It will age effortlessly for a quarter of a century or longer.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek and tightly wound for now, with a bundle of red licorice, cassis, damson plum and spice notes at the core, pushed by brisk acidity and a lively, chalky edge on the finish. Packed and powerful, but very pure. Best from 2012 through 2020.
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.