Cornas, Domaine Auguste Clape 2015

The grand vin of the estate is the 2015 Cornas, and it's even more inky colored than the Renaissance, with a saturated purple/bluish color. It offers a truly profound bouquet of black cherries, melted asphalt, ground pepper, exotic flowers and graphite, as well as the classic iodine/bloodiness I always find in this cuvée. Full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, and seamless, with sweet tannin and a stacked mid-palate, it has an almost Hermitage-like liquid rock character, shocking elegance and purity, and a huge finish. This is Cornas at its finest – hats off to the Clape family! It's relatively accessible now, yet I suspect it will close down with a few years of bottle age, so try one (or two) now and save the rest for after 2025.

Clape’s flagship 2015 Cornas is enormously complex and compelling. Almond skin, cherries, blood and herbal notes all combine on the nose, while on the palate this medium to full-bodied wine is firmly tannic but ripe and balanced, with a rich, velvety and nearly endless finish. Drink Date 2023 - 2040

The two Cornas releases in 2015 are head-turners that warrant serious attention. The flagship 2015 Cornas comes from the older vines of the estate, with a good chunk from the Reynard lieu-dit, which is unquestionably one of the grand cru sites in the appellation. This is a big, rich, sexy vintage from this estate and the top cuvée has a wealth of material and building, sweet tannin, as well as full-bodied richness and a great finish. It’s more approachable than the 2010 was at the same age, but it’s still going to require 5-7 years of cellaring. It’s a brilliant wine.