2006 Cornas

"There was no rain in August, then we got a good soaking at the very beginning of September, which kick-started the vines," Olivier Clape said while discussing the 2007 vintage. "The 2007s are easier wines than the 2006s here," his father Pierre-Marie chimed in, adding that he thinks the earlier vintage will reward patience. The Clapes are blessed with an ample collection of old vines in the best sites of Cornas, with many 50 to 60 years of age. The wines are never destemmed, which I believe is a major reason that they are usually among the most highly perfumed of the appellation. The domain also depends on ambient yeasts and the wines are raised in ancient foudres that are into their fourth decade of use. As Cornas goes, a good amount of wine is made here: Clape produces about 8,000 bottles of Renaissance and 16,000 bottles of Cornas classique in typical vintages like 2006 and 2007. The 2005 Cornas, by the way, is displaying a wonderfully vivacious character right now, with deep, sweet red and dark berry fruit and sexy Asian spice character. If you have a few bottles, it's worth taking one for a spin. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA) Also recommended: 2007 Vin des Amis Vin de Table de France (87), 2007 Cotes du Rhone (88).

"We do no destemming here," Pierre-Marie Clape told me, "and that's the key to a complex bouquet, especially in hot years, which seems like every year now." Clape added that Cornas received more rainfall in 2005 than did vineyards farther to the north, "which should allow us to make wines with perhaps less roasted character than you might find up there in that vintage." Clape's 2004 Cornas, by the way, is showing wonderful sweetness and elegance, and is in no way shut down.