2017 - Cornas Les Viellies Vignes, Alain Voge

Inky violet color. Intensely perfumed aromas of ripe black/blue fruits, exotic spices, potpourri and olive are sharpened by a smoky mineral flourish. Juicy and expansive in the mouth, offering alluringly sweet blueberry and cherry preserve flavors along with hints of licorice and candied flowers. The floral and spice qualities repeat emphatically on an impressively long, energetic finish that features well-knit tannins and a resonating mineral note.

Bottled in June 2019, the 2017 Cornas Vieilles Vignes still seemed shut down when I tasted it, marked by cedary oak and mixed berry flavors. It's full-bodied and silky-textured, framed by surprisingly tart acids on the long, crisp finish. Worth noting is that this includes the fruit that normally goes into the les Vieilles Fontaines, as that wine was not bottled in 2017. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes.

Organic. Cask sample. Tasted blind. Dark black-cherry fruit, very tannic on the palate. All very much in hibernation. Chunky and imposing. (RH)