Today’s wine is a master class in why—alongside Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie—Cornas is one of the three most revered Syrah-growing hillsides in the world. This bottle has all one needs to fully grasp and fall in love with this timeless terroir: 460 years of family lineage, legendary vineyards, bottle maturity—and of course, undeniable deliciousness in the glass.
Domaine Lionnet bottles Cornas in a style similar to that of the old masters, Noël Verset and Robert Michel. That is to say, painstakingly handmade wines whose true brilliance is revealed only after many years of aging in a cool cellar. It’s what I call an “endangered species wine”. After all, one can read about the near-mythical virtues of authentic, mature Cornas in practically every European wine textbook ever printed—but locating the genuine article is another story altogether. There simply isn’t much classically styled, “old school” Cornas bottled anymore—and if you are fortunate enough to find it, bottles tend to either be too young to drink or exorbitantly overpriced. So, it’s especially thrilling to come upon today’s wine with 7 years of age, just as it’s bursting into its prime drinking window—and because the global wine press didn’t discover the magic occurring in Lionnet’s cellar until the 2013 vintage, this bottle enjoys a relatively modest price. You can’t lose here.
We all know the expression “bigger is better”, but in the world of wine I frequently find the opposite to be the case. Smaller vineyards, smaller cellars, and a focused and humble approach to one’s work reliably deliver the most soulful and impressive results. Domaine Lionnet is tiny—this is a one-man-show that produces a few hundred cases of wine from a mere 2 hectares of vines. Not too much has changed since the family began farming this hillside 460 years ago in 1575. Vines are grown 100% organically, all labor—including the grueling work of maintaining stone terraces—is done by hand, and the wines produced here are designed to be treasured for many years before the cork is pulled. This is card carrying, old school, unapologetically traditional Cornas.
This “Terre Brulée” bottling is the Lionnet family’s only wine bottled this vintage and it originates from a small handful of Granite-dominated hillside vineyards: Chaillot, Combes, Brugeres, and Mazards. The 60-100 year old vines on these parcels are known for producing amazingly dense and aromatic Syrah with definitive Cornas soil character. While it has become fashionable for properties to separate their Cornas into individual single vineyard “luxury” cuvées, the traditional method—and that of the Lionnet family—is to combine multiple parcels into one wine that communicates the totality of Cornas’ timeless and unique terroir. This traditional approach extends to the cellar where all wine travels from press to barrel via gravity flow, no additives or filtration is used, and the wine is left to age for years in neutral old French Oak barrels before bottling. And as with all great traditional Cornas, after release the wine still benefits considerably from further time reposing in bottle before drinking.
Though it will certainly evolve and improve for another decade and then some, Domaine Lionnet’s 2009 Cornas “Terre Brulée” is firing on all cylinders right now. This is exactly what I seek when plucking a bottle of Cornas from my cellar. Concentric crimson and garnet notes overlap in the glass before transitioning to almost invisible translucent and oranging tones at the rim. Aromatically, this wine screams Cornas: blackberry, black currant, black olive, dark roasted coffee, larder meats, violets, lavender and toasted sage blossoms, and North African dried spices. All aromatic elements are painted a slight shade darker with the distinctly brooding intensity that is so unique to this hillside. Similarly on the palate, there is a palpable sense of meatiness and textural heft and crunch that is evident in every great bottle of Cornas I’ve ever opened. Finally, do yourself and the wine the favor of preparing a perfect companion meal. This bottle will steal the show most nights on its own so don’t waste your time trying to match its intensity with elaborate or showy recipes. Instead, prepare a simple and rustic assortment of dishes to act as this bottle’s humble supporting cast. Drinking great Cornas is a group activity—Cheers!
