Anyone who has ever enjoyed a bottle of Auguste Clape’s Cornas will know what a truly gorgeous example of pure Syrah that wine can be. In recent years Clape’s Cornas has become highly sought after and, sadly, 'collectible'. My response to certain wines becoming hard to get and expensive is to look for alternative producers - people who are making equally good wine but at affordable prices.
Over the past 10 years Vincent has risen to become one of the stars of this tiny appellation. While being a relative newcomer to Cornas (since 1997), he has vineyards in some of the best old-vine sites (the same as Clape), thanks to land that he inherited. I bought a few cases of his 2011 ‘Granit 60’ last year which, despite being young, was still absolutely delicious and sold out quickly.
There are five wines in the Paris stable, totalling just 2500 cases, only 1600 of which are Cornas. There is a St Joseph, a Cornas 'Blanc' and three different Cornas Cuvees - the Granit 30, Granit 60, and a Cuvee Geynale of which there was none left for us this year, but we will receive full allocations going forward.
