2014 Cornas

Pierre-Marie and his son, Olivier, said that they expended as many man-hours in the vines in 2014 as in any vintage in recent memory, and that while they’re happy with the results, the diminished quantity of wine produced “probably makes them the most expensive we’ve made in a long time, if you look at the work that it took to get there,” as Pierre-Marie put it. The 2014s here show a higher degree of polish than I normally expect from Clape but that’s not to say that they’re lightweights. My guess is that they’ll be drinking well at least a few years before the 2013s here and way before the 2015s, which are wines that any Cornas lover really should have in their cellar.

I tasted with both Pierre-Marie and Olivier Clape this year. The vineyards had just received a welcome, soaking rain and Olivier was going to have to wait a day or so before being sent back up into the vines while his father “gets to entertain people in the cellar." Once again, because of the timing of my visit I was able to taste three vintages here -- 2015, 2014 and 2013 -- and they all look to be outstanding in their own distinct way. The vibrancy of the '13s will allow them to age smoothly, Olivier thinks, while the richness of the 2014s and, probably, 2015s will make them enjoyable on the young side, the '15s likely being the better candidates for long-term cellaring.

For the first time since I first visited this cellar back in 1989, I tasted three different vintages, as the malos of the Clapes' 2014s had recently finished when I visited their cellar in December and the 2013s were about to be assembled in preparation for bottling in early January. Pierre Clape took me through the new wines by himself because his son Olivier had to leave to work up in the vineyards where much topsoil had been washed down the hill by heavy rainfall a couple of days earlier. Clape told me that he thinks that the 2014s in Cornas "are quite a bit like the 2012s but because the yields were generous, as in 2013, their structure will be less strict, so more like 2013 in that regard." That means that the '14s "will probably never really close up," he added. Moving quickly to harvest was essential in 2014, he added, because rain and rot were feared in early September, causing the Clapes to "harvest like crazy, in just one week and finishing on the 7th, which was the fastest we've ever moved through the vines and with the most workers ever." While yields were generous in 2013 "many of the grapes were small, so the ratio of juice to skin was pretty good," said Clape, who thinks that while a classic Cornas is best drunk at around 20 years of age, the '13s will be at their best "maybe 10 years" after the vintage. He called 2012 "an elegant year but with structure--a lot like 2004 but with a little more depth." These are wines to hold and drink after the '13s and '14s "but long before the '10s, which are strictly for the cellar."