2017 Cornas

Wine Details
Place of Origin

France

Cornas

Northern Rhône

Color

Red

Grape/Blend

Syrah

Reviews & Tasting Notes

00

Drinking Window

2026 - 2038

Subscriber Access Only

or Sign Up

You'll Find The Article Name Here

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer vitae aliquam odio. Aliquam purus diam, tempor et consectetur vitae, eleifend ac quam. Proin nec mauris ac odio iaculis semper. Integer posuere pharetra aliquet. Nullam tincidunt sagittis est in maximus. Donec sem orci, vulputate ac quam non, consectetur fermentum diam. In dignissim magna id orci dignissim convallis. Integer sit amet placerat dui. Aliquam pharetra ornare nulla at vulputate. Sed dictum, mi eget fringilla lacinia, nisl tortor condimentum mi, vitae ultrices quam diam ac neque. Donec hendrerit vulputate felis, fringilla varius massa.

- By Author Name on Month Date, Year

Comparing 2017 to 2018, Pierre-Marie Clape said that the 2017s “really deserve more time.” They have pretty serious concentration and structure, he told me, “from the thick skins, and there was a very low yield, while the fruit in 2018 gave more juice, which balances the tannins.” He ventured that the 2017s deserve “10 years of aging, at a minimum, so that the tannins can relax.” Note that there was no Cornas Renaissance made in 2017, as "there just wasn't enough yield and the fresher fruit that’s usually selected for the Renaissance brought energy to the classic Cornas." Value-conscious readers should start looking for Clape’s 2018 Vin de Amis and Côtes-du-Rhône bottlings, which deliver solid value for their quality and Clape pedigree. Both of those wines have a loyal, long-time following, though, so they won’t be easy to track down.

00

Subscriber Access Only

or Sign Up

You'll Find The Article Name Here

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer vitae aliquam odio. Aliquam purus diam, tempor et consectetur vitae, eleifend ac quam. Proin nec mauris ac odio iaculis semper. Integer posuere pharetra aliquet. Nullam tincidunt sagittis est in maximus. Donec sem orci, vulputate ac quam non, consectetur fermentum diam. In dignissim magna id orci dignissim convallis. Integer sit amet placerat dui. Aliquam pharetra ornare nulla at vulputate. Sed dictum, mi eget fringilla lacinia, nisl tortor condimentum mi, vitae ultrices quam diam ac neque. Donec hendrerit vulputate felis, fringilla varius massa.

- By Author Name on Month Date, Year

Pierre-Marie and Olivier Clape have, unsurprisingly, made the most of the 2018 and 2017 vintages. They produced wines that show the ripeness that marks both years with plenty of freshness and good structure as well. Pierre-Marie Clape said that what distinguished 2017 “was how hot and dry it was in the summer and, especially, how low the yields were, just 27 hl/ha instead of what we usually get, which is more like 37 hl/ha.” It was low enough to decide not to produce the Renaissance bottling of Cornas. He also noted that the grapes were smaller than normal, thus increasing skin-to-juice ratios but “luckily, that didn’t have too great an effect on increased tannins.” Indeed, he pointed out that this probably helped to give the wines desirable structure and ensured that they weren’t “like some hot-vintage wines, with too much weight and not enough solidity.” At this point the Clapes are highly optimistic about their 2018s, which, as was the case across the appellation, “finally got a good amount of winter rain, plus some more in late spring, and gave a healthy yield, which was a relief,” Pierre-Marie Clape said. Olivier Clape added that while there’s plenty of richness in the 2018s “it’s not like 2017 because there’s also freshness and precision.” Like a number of his colleagues he said that at this early stage the wines look to be a “marriage of 2017 for the power and 2016 for the energy.” The Clape wines are never short on power, and the 2017s and 2018s are no exception.

00

Subscriber Access Only

or Sign Up

You'll Find The Article Name Here

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Integer vitae aliquam odio. Aliquam purus diam, tempor et consectetur vitae, eleifend ac quam. Proin nec mauris ac odio iaculis semper. Integer posuere pharetra aliquet. Nullam tincidunt sagittis est in maximus. Donec sem orci, vulputate ac quam non, consectetur fermentum diam. In dignissim magna id orci dignissim convallis. Integer sit amet placerat dui. Aliquam pharetra ornare nulla at vulputate. Sed dictum, mi eget fringilla lacinia, nisl tortor condimentum mi, vitae ultrices quam diam ac neque. Donec hendrerit vulputate felis, fringilla varius massa.

- By Author Name on Month Date, Year

Pierre-Marie Clape told me he finds 2016 to be “a vintage of freshness and tenderness” because the balance of fruit and tannins is “so harmonious.” Clape noted the bright acidity that marks so many wines, “will also help them age well.” During my last visit I was able to go through some barrels of 2017 wines from the usual vineyards that make up the domaine’s two Cornas bottlings, all of which had recently completed their malolactic fermentations. Clape is less sanguine about the ‘17s than the ‘16s (or the ‘15s, for that matter) as he is wary of the ripeness achieved by much of the fruit in the region. “If things go well, we’ll probably have another 2009, which would be a great thing,” he told me, “but in a lot of vineyards the fruit came in with a pH in the 3.8 range, an issue if you want to make the energetic and detailed wines we do.”