Les Chailles Cornas Syrah

Wild and smoky, presenting deep ruby in the glass. Palate is stylish and peppery with alcohol in check. Possibly whole cluster? Violets and coffee grounds come around with air. Guessed Faury St. Joseph 2015 blind, a’thank you!

Oh yeah… that’s the stuff. Gorgeous young. I’m sure more character will come out with patience.

A solid, though not show stopping, bottle of Cornas. Graphite, blackberry, smoke. A little one noted/shut down.

Poured into a ship’s decanter about an hour before service. The 2015 “Les Chailles” pours a ruby color with a translucent core; moderate staining. On the nose, powerful intensity with developing red fruits, brambles, pomegranate, black fruits, orange zest, purple flowers and just a whiff of leather. Shaquille O’Neal is also there… as this wine is not “faking the funk on a nasty dunk”. Translation: this does have a feral quality to it but it’s just wonderful. On the palate, it’s bone dry, with medium+ tannin and acid. Medium alcohol. Long. Ass. Finish. Overall, you just want to drink this wine as there is just so much to like. That being said, this is still quite the baby…even if this is considered Voge’s “generic” Cornas. Drink now with some extended air (in hindsight, I would have audouzed the night before) but probably better after 2025. Easily has the stuffing to be enjoyable past 2030. NOTE: I left about one glass in the bottle and came back to it two nights later and it was still outstanding with only slight evolution. I suspect the aging potential of these wines is well beyond what is advertised.

Post raucous dinner party score with minimal notes: Delicious. Softer and more accessible than a typical Cornas, great interplay of fruit and stony minerality.

Dense and very ripe fruited, so classically Syrah with an abundance of dark plum, blackberry and blackcurrant, violet and freshly ground pepper. The nose it’s gutsy and quite overwhelming - I sniffed this for a long time before taking the first sip. There’s a touch of brett, masquerading as damp earth, but it works.

On the palate the wine continues to be dense and full bodied, with wonderfully pure fruit, ripe tannins and a streak of iron. Exceptional grip. This wine is a Cornas of great quality (and value) and shows how good 2016 can be.

This was fun, tons of youthful charm and integrating nicely, I would argue there’s no reason to age more. Young vine character come through with a lack of depth, but the bright exuberant fruit coupled with some bottle development make for a nice drop. Not a shabby Cornas vintage either IMO. Soaked cherry, mulberry jam, apricot pit, crushed peach, sweet licorice, cinnamon, graphite, violets, leather. A background a musky earth too. There’s some nice polish from the oak, lending some class.

Black olives, black pepper and roasted meat. So damn good!

Classic pepper, olive tampenade, and blackberry and black plum fruit

Classically built-up, with pronounced tannins, brisk acidity, plenty of cloves, bay leaves and meat stock aromas, this will reward mid-term cellaring, though "thinner" than usual.