By Sue Davies and Raymond Chan
The tiny village of Cornas is home to only a couple of thousand residents and perches on the shoulder of large granite outcroppings in the northern part of the Rhone Valley. These large hills protect the steeply sloped vineyards, famous since the time of Charlemagne, from the cold north Mistral winds, and their crushed talus provide rocky footing for terraced rows of vines.
The natural sun-trapping amphitheatre of the Cornas vineyards and granitic, sandy soil with limestone topping is responsible for the Syrah-based wines with the sturdiest structure in the northern Rhone. The Cornas wines can have an impressive masculine firmness and ruggedness that is unmatched by wines from the nearby appellations of St Joseph, or even Hermitage. The most illustrious producer of Cornas is Domaine Auguste Clape, making traditionally styled, long-lived and complex wines from 11 hectares of fruit. Many of the vines are now approaching 100 years in age.
The son of a chartered accountant, Auguste Clape first came to Cornas in 1949 to marry his wife, the daughter of a local winegrower. The men from her side of the family were all killed in the War. The Domaine is now run by son Pierre-Marie and grandson Olivier Clape, who presented a marvellous tasting at Regional Wines.
Clape continues to use neutral oak barrels or steel for all the winemaking, and they have no problem waiting months and months for the fermentations to finish on his wines. Likewise most of the wines are still made by hand - hand picked, sorted, crushed and fermented single lots. These lots, after they have taken their own time to ferment and age are blended to make the final wine.
The domaine exclusively vinifies Syrah, and the vines for the VdP and Cotes du Rhone just lie outside the Cornas appellation boundaries.
Pre-Taster
The first wine, the Clape Cotes du Rhone 2007 (18.0/20), had aromas of black fruits, blueberry, herbs, spices and floral. Sweet, rich fruits, spice, vibrant and fleshy on the palate. A youthful style with very subtle oak handling. A wine recommended to be consumed in its youth but if preferred it can be cellared for 5 years. Olivier recommends this wine to be served with an excellent piece of meat on the barbecue.
Flight One: ‘Renaissance' Cornas Vertical
Three vintages of the Clape ‘Renaissance' Cornas were tasted showing the variation from different growing years. The label utilises fruit from younger vines not incorporated in the top label. The Clape ‘Renaissance' Cornas 2006 (18.0/20), possessed attractive violet, floral, cassis and earthy aromas. A little VA showed on the nose but gave a lift and did not detract from the wine. Nice depth of flavour, juicy, vibrant and good structure. A delicious wine. Then the Clape ‘Renaissance' Cornas 2004 (17.0/20). This wine showed more herbal characters with tobacco notes indicative a cooler vintage. A lighter, more reserved style. The tannins showed chalkiness with a firmer finish. The Clape ‘Renaissance' Cornas 2002 (15.5/20) had a soft nose with red liquorice and mushroom. This wine was a lighter style, more dilute but considering the difficult vintage a lovely wine. There is a similar thread and style to all of these wines and the vintage characteristics were not interfered with by oak input. The ‘Renaissance' wines were fresh, more vibrantly fruity and more accessible.
Flight Two: Cornas Vertical
Five vintages of the flagship Clape Cornas ranging from 2006 to the 1997 vintages. More seriously structured with greater depth and complexities of flavour were the hallmarks. The Clape Cornas 2006 (18.0/20) showed pepper, florals and violets with some leather, mushroom and chocolate. The wine was richly vibrant with cassis and olive flavours, had excellent length, intensity, finesse, definite tannins with a fresh mineral backbone. The Clape Cornas 2003 (18.0/20) was from a very hot and dry year. This wine had deep colour, black fruits and rosemary on the bouquet. The wine was lush with sweet fruits, dried blackcurrant notes, and had sweet, juicy olive/tapenade elements, and was almost New World in style. Olivier Clape was not sure how this would age as the domaine had never experienced such a vintage before. The Clape Cornas 2002 (16.5/20), despite a difficult vintage, was a very attractive wine. The aromas were soft, mushroomy with a touch of floral lift and nuance. The wine was lighter in weight but possessed delicacy and balance, yet still complex and showed the careful handing in the winery and the excellent site the grapes came from. The Clape Cornas 1998 (15.0/20), very earthy with a strong brettanomyces component on the nose. The palate was earthy too, but still had depth and structure. The wine had moved into secondary characters with a tannic, grainy finish. The Clape Cornas 1997 (16.0/20), also showed brettanomyces but not as strong as the 1998 vintage. This wine had earthy, mushroom and tapenade complexities. It also had moved into the secondary character expression.
Conclusion
All of the wines demonstrated singular expressions of the vintage and the unique fruit from that harvest. The wines were aged in 50 y.o. large barrels or concrete vats. All of the wines included whole stem indicating the Clape Cornas sites ability to fully ripen the vines and fruit to a enviable degree!