Here's a Northern Rhône master whose wines remain a well-kept secret among insiders: Domaine Lionnet. This tiny, family-run estate in Cornas crafts Syrahs of remarkable purity and tension—wines that echo the soulful traditions of legends like Noël Verset and Robert Michel.

There’s the Cornas you read about in textbooks, then there’s the reality of the market. There simply isn’t much “old school” Cornas bottled anymore, and if you are fortunate enough to find it, bottles tend to either be too young to drink or overpriced. Lionnet is, despite its rabid following among sommeliers, still an outlier. When Ludovic, a highly talented winemaker originally from the Savoie, married Corinne, whose family has been growing grapes in Cornas since the 16th (!) century, a new—if tiny—wine dynasty was launched.

The 2022 “Terre Brûlée” is Lionnet’s flagship cuvée, a brooding, mineral-charged Syrah sourced from 40- to 100-year-old vines across multiple lieux-dits. It’s raw, elemental, and deeply expressive—aged 18 months in neutral 600L demi-muids, with no additives, no filtration, and gravity-fed movement throughout the cellar.

This is an unapologetically traditional Syrah—organically farmed, hand-harvested, and built for the long haul. In a market flooded with polished, modern Rhône reds, Lionnet remains an outlier: soulful, soil-driven, and priced for those who know. Santé!

Press Accolades:

94 Points, Wine Advocate: 

“ … seamless and complete, bursting with pure aromas of iris, violet, gentian and dark berries. Full-bodied, ample and satiny, with a layered, enveloping core of fruit … an impressive effort!

94 Points, James Suckling:

“ … pretty radical Cornas … the finish has a terrific energy and drive.”