2011 M. Chapoutier Cornas Les Arenes

Community Tasting Notes (4) Median Score: 92 points

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  5/3/2020 - bram_epicurien Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Deep ruby Color. Vibrant black fruits with smoke, pepper on the nose. Med acidity, full body, high alcohol, Med+ intensity, Long finish. Very silky tannins, great structure, still feels young and vibrant. Excellent wine and shows that Cornas is a great village to explore. The 2011 can be kept a couple of years more but drinks perfectly now. Highly recommend.

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  11/10/2015 - forceberry wrote: 85 Points

  Dark and only slightly translucent black-red cherry color. Somewhat stuffy and unexpressive nose with restrained aromas of savory dark-toned oak spice, some plummy fruit and a hint of roasted meat tones. The wine is full-bodied, pretty tannic and quite tough on the palate with relatively dull and restrained flavors of dark-toned fruits, brooding and quite toasty oak spice, some chocolatey character, a hint of dark cherry and a touch of peppery spice. Medium-to-moderate in acidity. The finish is medium in length with moderate tannic grip and quite savory, non-fruity flavors of peppery spice, ripe blackberries, some extracted woody bitterness, a little bit of chocolatey oak and a touch of tart lingonberries.
  
  A rather dull and forbidding effort that seems less expressive and more closed than the wine I tasted only half a year ago. However, I agree with my previous overall description of the wine: this is quite clumsy and awkward, lacking the brightness and purity of a good Cornas. Based on how the wine is developing, I am thinking the even some cellaring won't help - this doesn't seem to be that good an effort for a Cornas. Not worth the 36€.

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  10/8/2015 - Yiannis Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Medium ruby. Initially heavily reductive, needs prolonged aeration. After that, it still needs time to breath and unfold its delicate and complex nature. Spicy nose of mostly red fruit, floral and herbal scents. Firm tannins of excellent quality, bright fruit, medium to high acidity and a long aftertaste. Quite young but already enjoyable if decanted for 2 to 3 hours. Archetypical northern Rhone red.

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  3/4/2015 - forceberry wrote: 88 Points

  Dark, very lightly translucent black-red cherry color. Brooding and slightly dusty nose with lots of earthy tones, ripe blackberry-driven fruit, peppery spice, some cocoa oak notes, a little smoke and hints of sous-bois and even a whiff of barnyard. Full-bodied and textural on the palate with moderate acidity and moderate, firm but ripe and quite friendly tannins. Spicy and savory flavors of black pepper, blackberry-driven fruit notes, some dark cherry, savory touches of spicy oak, a little bitterness and a hint of woody and somewhat toasty oak. The finish is quite long, dry and quite woody with some coarse textural grit, moderate tannic astringency and flavors of sour cherries, peppery spice, some cocoa oak and a hint of toasty smoke or even smoked meat.
  
  A chewy and pretty serious Northern Rhône Syrah. Lacks the brightness and purity of the best Cornas Syrah, which might be either because of the lesser vintage or because the wine is still so young and unintegrated. Maybe at 8-10 years of age the wine will start getting its game together, but now it feels still quite clumsy and awkward. Based how it is drinking now, I wouldn't say the wine is worth the 36€, but maybe some cellaring might help.

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