The brooding, mineral, deeply complex Syrahs of Cornas don’t typically fetch the same prices as their Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie cousins a little farther up the Rhône, but they’re sentimental favorites because of their rough-hewn character—and the rough-hewn characters who make them. Cornas has had its share of wizened winemaking legends, sturdy men of the vine like August Clape (who died in 2018 at 93) and Noël Verset (2015; 95), who chiseled vineyards out of granite and wrung soulful Syrah out of them.
Most of the Cornas greats worked on a small scale and did everything by hand, and when it comes to artisanship and a deep connection to a place, there’s another name (well, two) to nominate for the Cornas wall of fame: Dumien-Serrette. Hand-farming the same four-acre vineyard, “Patou,” for generations, the Dumien-Serrette clan used to sell their grapes to others until Gilbert Serrette decided to finally put the family name on a bottle in the early 1980s (the Dumiens go back to the 1500s in Cornas, so clearly it was time). Given the estate’s tiny production, I’m surprised any manages to find its way to us, but boy am I glad it did: This is mythical wine. When a glass of this inky, bottomless Syrah is put in front of you, it deserves its own soundtrack (my suggestion is the thunderous opening riff to Heart’s “Barracuda”). It’s a bold and beautiful young Cornas that is poised to be a profound old Cornas 15-20 years from now. Grab every bottle you can because we don’t have much and this is likely our only shot at it!
Cornas estates tend to skew small because Cornas in general is small, with only about 300 acres of vineyards in total on the west bank of the Rhône. It is similar in terms of soil composition (decomposed granite) and exposure to Hermitage, which is not surprising given they’re only about eight miles apart; the vineyards are seriously vertical and thus impossible to mechanize, so the vineyards are, as in Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage, kept in place by stone terraces (fun fact: “Cornas” is said to come from the Celtic for “burned land,” while Côte-Rôtie, of course, means “roasted slope”). The “Patou” vineyard (seen here in an incredible
video posted by Nicolas) is one of those jewel-box vineyard sites that feel like monuments; who knows, maybe UNESCO will come calling soon.
The Dumien-Surrette operation is tiny in every respect, with Gilbert Serrette’s son, Nicolas, now at the controls. It is also a throwback in every regard: they tread grapes by foot here and still use a hand-cranked basket press in the cellar. The wines are aged in old wood barrels. The whole thing sounds a little Medieval, which is part of the appeal, but of course what it’s really all about is the wine, and it delivers on every level—dense black and blue fruit, crushed-rock minerality, violets and lavender…a wine that is both hugely muscular and incredibly nimble at the same time. And it’s just getting started!
Fermented using whole grape clusters on native yeasts and aged only about 6 months in barrel, the 2017 has all the earthy elements one would expect from Cornas but also a deliciously pure core of richly concentrated fruit. This is a whole-body Syrah if there ever was one, dense and palate-coating but also vibrant and more perfumed than you might expect. In the glass, it’s an inky, purplish ruby extending to a magenta rim, with aromas of muddled blackberry, mulberry, cassis, lavender, licorice, violets, roasted meat, coffee grounds, turned earth…the list goes on. It is a full-bodied blockbuster on the palate with lots of nerve to keep it from feeling sweet or overly chunky—a real soul-warming red through and through. Although it’ll be considerably better with 3-5 years’ more aging, it is surprisingly enjoyable now provided you decant it 30-60 minutes before consuming. Serve it at 60-65 degrees in Bordeaux stems with lamb, braised beef, or game; duck with figs feels very right with this wine, which is an absolute must-have for northern Rhône Syrah fanatics. Do not miss this!
