2009 Cornas Vallon de l'Aigle

"Two thousand and nine is a vintage for the patient, or the young," said Anne Colombo. "The tannins were always there but not so obvious at first if you were just tasting the wines and had no knowledge of their analysis. Now, you can see a hardness and it will take some time for that to go away." Two thousand ten, she went on, is a much easier vintage. "The wines are fresher and have more of a graceful personality but don't lack depth. They will just be easier to enjoy at more stages of their life than the 2009s." I also had the chance to chat with Anne's husband, Jean-Luc, who was in high dudgeon on the subject of "natural wine." Why is it, he asked rhetorically, that a wine-grower can intervene in the vineyard and cellar in some ways and all is good, but other things, often much less dangerous, are not allowed? He seemed particularly amused, or aggravated, by the subject of irrigation. "Think about it: it's just water added to the ground, like rain, but it's a huge no-no while sulfur in the cellar, which can be a poison, is okay, even with the natural crowd."