One can read about the soul-stirring virtues of Cornas in just about every European wine textbook that’s come off the printing press, but what many fail to mention is the most alarming fact of all: Properly aged, classically styled Cornas is an endangered species. There simply isn’t much “old school” Cornas bottled anymore, evidenced by the fact that we’ve only offered 14 throughout our five years—half of which have been from Domaine Lionnet! And that level of outstanding consistency and quality is exactly what makes them such a treasure.
Lionnet reigns supreme in an appellation that’s among the three most important Syrah-growing hillsides on earth (Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie are the others), and their organic, old-vine 2016 is the gorgeous result of a family steeped in 440+ years of experience. So who do we have to thank for uncovering this extraordinary and timeless label? Legendary importer Neal Rosenthal, who described today’s 2016 as “subtle but deeply intense, mouth-filling yet athletically nimble on the palate; a wine for the ages.” He then goes one step further by proclaiming that “it merits a singular position of importance in one’s cellar.” Wine will always be subjective, but Neal’s praise should be treated as a universal truth: today’s 2016 Terre Brulée” will (1) stun anyone and (2) age profoundly well. Simply put, it is a paragon of how old-school Syrah performs in Cornas’ globally revered granitic terroir. We can allow up to six bottles per person.
We all know the expression “bigger is better,” but as I’ve written before, the opposite is often the case in the world of wine. 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 two 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 uncompromising, unapologetically traditional Cornas. In the cellar, Lionnet bottles Cornas with a philosophy that pays duly flattering homage to the old masters, Noël Verset and Robert Michel—i.e. painstakingly handmade wines whose beauty and delicacy is revealed only after many years of aging have melted away their brawn and tannic density.
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,” “Mazards,” and a couple of others. The 45-100-year-old vines on these parcels are known for producing astonishingly dense and aromatic Syrah that overflows with the impossible-to-counterfeit 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 antique 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.
Because Lionnet’s 2016 “Terre Brulée” is a one-stop tasting tour through an honor roll of Cornas’ top vineyard sites and sees long aging in barrel and bottle before release, we recommend one of two things: Decanting for several hours or cellaring in a dark spot for at least another two years. Still, our sample bottle was already a gorgeous expression of Syrah. The first few hours brought a tightly-coiled wine that was begging for air, but by hour three, it began loosening its tight grip and revealing bountiful wild herbs and purple flowers infused with Cornas’ signature smoked meat, olive tapenade, and crushed granite undertones. On the palate, everything comes together with hand-crushed dark berry fruit, black cherry, roasted coffee, licorice, Damson plum, and a touch of exotic spices. It’s unapologetically and unmistakably elite Northern Rhône Syrah that dances across your taste buds and leaves a firm, mineral impression. It’s rustic, elegant, and vividly layered all in one; an absolute joy to track as hours pass it by. Still, I encourage all collectors to save a few bottles for their cellar. This terroir, especially in the gifted hands of Lionnet, is known for producing powerful reds of seemingly infinite aging potential. But in order to experience that first hand, patience is required!
