August 19, 2021 - https://youtu.be/tC2lr5GadzE
September 3, 2020 - Way better than last time. Also excellent with burgers. Black pepper. Blackberry fruit. A tad soft in the acidity.
January 25, 2020 - Solid, but a bit one dimensional. Didn't really reflect the terroir or appellation.
September 29, 2019 - Having previously enjoyed this domaine’s base Cornas, I was looking forward to this Vin Noir, a rarer bottling made from a parcel of old vines.
Poured directly after popping the cork (at about 65F), the nose shows an intensely savory, meaty aroma along with black fruit — plum, black cherry perhaps — and hints of pepper, tobacco and star anise. Mouthfeel is distinctly full and weighty, and there is a powerful blast of tannin and acidity before settling down into flavors of concentrated black pepper, blueberry and plum, star anise and clove. Finish is long.
After a two hours in the decanter, the meaty aroma is even more prominent, fruits now appear riper, more stewed. There is smoke and tobacco too. On the palate, more integrated and harmonious now, still intense but the flavors of ripe black fruit, spices, and a hint of liquorice are now more accessible. The tannins and nervy acidity are still prominent, as I would want from a Cornas.
I enjoyed this wine a lot, and it seems to me an intense, accurate expression of pure Syrah-ness. I happen to love the combination of high tannin, acidity, and savory/spicy flavors which this delivers — on occasion this bottle sent a shiver down my spine! At the same time, I did find it perhaps a touch one-dimensional; in all that insensity and length, it seems there is room for some additional flavor complexity or dynamics. The 2011 Lionnet Cornas I drank recently wasn’t as intense but had more of that added interest, I’d say— both are wonderful and enjoyable now though!
November 18, 2018 - Yummy bouquet of dark berries, olives and white pepper. In the beginning quite open, but with time the (elegant) tannins become more pronounced.
This is an excellent, hedonistic wine which is hard not to enjoy now, but i would guess it can hold for at least another decade.
April 10, 2017 - Terroir-istes International - France, Rhone, Cornas, Du Tunnel Comparison (Groot Constantia): CT (Tasted Blind): 100+ yr old vines. Aged 16 mo. In 1-2- yr old barrels. Deep ruby red wine with a softer nose than previous showing candy floss, cassia bark, roasted herbs, brown liquorice and black fruits alongside an earthy, savoury note. And that intense iodine component that segues to blackstrap molasses and glazed meat?. Mid to full-bodied there is plenty of fruit with a grippy mid-palate augmented by a minerality and more substance than previous. Some density to the tannins that have a liquorice sweet note to them. Again not that complex, but approachable. Closes a little more grippy and firm, not that long but slightly blunted to the end with a sweet yet bitter element.