2016 Cornas Chaillot

Allemand’s 2016s have lived up to their initial promise and vividly display the freshness of the vintage as well as the sharp detail and balance that have launched his Cornas bottlings into the upper echelon of the northern Rhône for quality as well as, unfortunately, price and scarcity. Not that I have any quarrel with the prices these wines command, given that Allemand works his steeply terraced, 4.4 hectares of vineyards entirely by hand and, as anybody who has had the chance to see or walk through them (very, very carefully) will vouch, they are impeccably maintained, to a garden-like degree. I’m always surprised, in a good way, by how well Allemand’s wines show on the young side, especially if they are given a little air time. That said, their track record for aging is impeccable, even in supposedly weaker vintages, as bottles of the 1994 and 1996 Chaillot and 1998 Reynard have proven recently.

Fans of Allemand's finely etched Cornas should start saving their pennies (dollars, in reality, and lots of them) for his 2016s, which are looking to be among the very best wines I have tasted from him since I started visiting 14 years ago, not to mention drinking them since the 1996 vintage. It figures that in a vintage that emphasizes elegance and detail, like 2016, Allemand would excel. Allemand’s wines always seem to come out near the top of my tastings in lighter vintages like 2014, 2012, and 2008. Not that he doesn't perform in richer vintages such as 2015, 2009 and 2007, but in those years, as Allemand likes to point out, the growing season and the fruit can outpace terroir which isn't his objective. During my last visit I was able to taste a half dozen of 2017 barrels that finished malo. If the wines mature as Allemand thinks they will, 2017 will be a theoretical cross of 2016 (balance) and 2015 (power). Yields in 2017 were pitifully low (off by almost 50%) due to cold weather during flowering that resulted in short quantity of grape clusters, plus a dry season that stunted vine growth. As a consequence, tracking the wines down will be an even more arduous task than usual.