Grands vins - Cornas

Appellation with a small vineyard of 116 ha, producing great red wines full of character with an exceptional ageing potential. Part of the vineyard faces the east, as opposed to Hermitage and Côte-Rotie which are south-exposed ; reason why the wine production is a bit slower. The most tradditional domaines don't remove the stalk from the vine, which creates rougher wines needing 8 to 10 years of ageing ; for those who do remove the stalk, the Cornas « shutdown period » is a lot shorter, sometimes even nonexistent.

Among the greatest producers : domaine courbis, domaine alain voge... and domaine clape.

Main grape varieties : Syrah

Soils : Mostly granit. A few calcareous areas on the Chaillots hill, close to the Saint-Joseph borderline.

Style of wines :

Dominant notes of smoke and black fruits, except for the more calcareous parcels which produce a wine with a fruitier nose, sometimes rough in the mouth. With age, nuances of menthol, game and pepper.