2013 Cornas

This small domain, with just two hectares of vines in some of the appellation's best sites (Reynard, Mazards and La Côte), has been steadily improving its wines in recent vintages, which is something of an obligation given that Mr. Verset is the nephew of the late Noël Verset, one of the Rhône Valley's most venerated producers. Production here is traditional; hot fermentation in concrete tanks is followed by basket-pressing of whole clusters and no yeast additions, and the wine is aged in old (5- to 6-year-old) old casks for 20 to 24 months and bottled without filtration. Fans of old-school Cornas, or northern Rhône red wines in general, should seek them out, but production is only on the order of about 900 to 1,000 cases per vintage, so the hunt might prove difficult. At the end of our tasting, I also had the chance to retaste the 2012 Cornas, a wine that I reviewed last year and underrated.