Community Tasting Note

forceberry wrote:

Saturday, October 2, 2021 - The young-vine Cornas cuvée of Clape, sourced from multiple vineyards averaging 20-30 yo. Fermented spontaneously with indigenous yeasts in open-top fermentors, aged for 20-22 months in old 600-1200-liter oak foudres. Bottled unfiltered. 14% alcohol.

Evolved and somewhat translucent maroon color. Very evolved and subtly oxidative nose with quite tertiary aromas of raisins, sweet plum liqueur, some beef jerky tones, a little bit of sweet balsamic VA and a hint of dried dates. The wine feels ripe, full-bodied and quite sweetly-fruited on the palate with powerful but also slightly tired flavors of raisins and prunes, some ripe blackberry tones, a little bit of blackcurrant marmalade, light earthy notes, oxidative hints of beef jerky and meat consommé and a sweet volatile touch of balsamico. As one would expect from a 2003 Cornas, the acidity feels rather modest and the structure relies more on the assertive and somewhat rustic tannins. The finish is ripe, long and somewhat sweet-toned with a little bit of alcohol heat along with sunny and quite tertiary flavors of wizened blackcurrants and raisins, some meat stew, a little bit of blackcurrant marmalade, light pruney tones, a balsamic hint of VA and an oxidative touch of beef jerky.

The vintage really shows here. Although the wine is still pretty much drinkable, it suffered quite badly in the company of better wines from better vintages. The overall feel is getting rather tired, oxidation has already started to creep in and the quite modest acidity makes the wine feel a bit ponderous. I wouldn't say the wine is at its plateau of maturity; it has already taken its first steps downhill. No point in aging these bottles any further, there's only one way from here and it is not up.

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