Domaine Auguste Clape's Cornas is one of the great benchmarks of the northern Rhône — uncompromising, ageworthy Syrah from the steep, poor granite slopes above the village. The estate has been a reference for Cornas since the 1950s, with Auguste's son Pierre-Marie and grandson Olivier now carrying on a style built on whole-cluster fermentation, old foudres and unfiltered bottling.
The 2022 is classic Clape — dark, meaty and wild out of the gate. Layers of black olive, violets, iron and cracked pepper sit over a core of ripe black fruits, with earthy, leathery edges framing a full-bodied, fleshy palate. A coiled core of minerality and tannic structure reveals itself gradually with air or, ideally, decades in the cellar.
Drawn from old-vine lieux-dits including Sabarotte, La Côte and Reynard, this is Syrah in its purest and most untamed form — a cornerstone northern Rhône for any serious cellar.
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