Winemaker Notes
#18 Jeb Dunnuck Top 100 of 2025
The name of this wine, "60", references the gradient slope of the vineyard. The wine comes from older vines. Ferments 33% whole cluster at low temps, vinfies 2/3 in barrel and 1/3 in tank. Aged in oak barrels for up to 12 months.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A well-composed, velvety and vivid Cornas with brightness and purity. Aromas of dark cherries, currants, wild herbs, graphite and black pepper. Medium-bodied with fine, firm tannins. Good concentration with precise fruit and a constant mineral edge. The peppercorn and stone character brings freshness and verve to the energetic mid-palate. It's vibrant and vertical with a lot of tension in the long, textured and spicy finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A clear step up, the 2022 Cornas Granit 60 reveals darker fruits, blackberries, sappy garrigue, bouquet garni, pepper, loamy earth, and meaty nuances. The stems are beautifully integrated, and it's a concentrated, beautiful wine that has a layered mouthfeel and lots of tannins. This terrific effort will benefit from short-term cellaring and keep for 10-12 years. Drink 2026-2037.
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Decanter
Some welcome ripeness to the blackberry fruit here. Soft and juicy, with a velvety touch on the mid-palate. More generous alcohol than most, and balanced acidity, leading to a long, juicy finish. Much better than most 2022 Cornas, this has depth and ripeness. 50-year-old vines, 30% whole bunch, natural yeasts and no new oak.
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Wine Spectator
A brooding, smoldering version, with a sanguine dimension: cured meat and olive notes layered with a dark core of ripe, winey fruit. Shows plenty of salty, savory power in the backdrop edged with mesquite ash. Big-boned, offering a firm, well-hewn finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Cornas Granit 60 has totally closed down. After a few minutes of aeration, it gradually releases ripe black fruit, cedar and graphite essences. Cured meat and iodine add more complexity. Tightly structured and full-bodied, the 2022 is stacked with concentration and intensity, demanding at least four more years in a cool cellar. For those who were interested to catch this complex Cornas showing its youthful expressivity, the ship has unfortunately sailed.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Crafted from old vines, the 2022 Cornas Granit 60 offers up aromas of violet, iris, meat and carnal/animal-like notes. Moderately weighted and structured, it's dense and robust, framed by structured tannins and concluding with a robust and dry finish.
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.