From: Cornas, Northern Rhone, France
Varietal: Syrah
Taste and Critical Acclaim: Made from 40-year-old vines, a blend of different lieux-dits in the granite foothills of Cornas. The name itself, meaning “chert”, refers to the siliceous rock specific to the area. Silky, refined and juicy; the nose displays ripe berry fruit – red cherries, kirsch, blackcurrants, and raspberry coulis. There is a touch of smoke and a bed of fine tannins.
Drink 2023 to 2035.
Georgina Haacke, Wine Buyer, Berry Bros. & Rudd (Mar 2022)
Jeb Dunnuck92-94/100
Moving to the reds, the 2020 Cornas Les Chailles comes from slightly younger vines and is all destemmed and aged in used barrels for 18 months. Deep purple-hued, with slightly reticent notes of blackberries, peppery herbs, iron, and violets, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, wonderful purity of fruit, silky tannins, and a great finish. It's going to have some up-front appeal, but smart money will give bottles 2-3 years in the cellar.
Pairing: The usual suspects are lamb, duck, cassoulet, steaks, grilled venison and wild boar sausages, and beef stew. Dishes that incorporate Moroccan and Mediterranean spices/herbs work wonderfully too. While looking for other ideas, we stumbled across an article and recipe by Florence Fabricant that was inspired by summer and Cornas- and had to share!
An Eggplant Parmigiana Recipe to Match Cornas by Florence Fabricant
About. Alain Voge is one of the famous names in Cornas.
From the age of 17 Alain Voge worked with his father, and always wanted to remain in Cornas, in the vines. He pays tribute to Robert Fraisse in Saint-Péray, whose vines became part of the Voge estate and to Joseph Michel at Cornas, his "spiritual father" who produced the first "cuvées parcellaires" in Cornas.
Until the mid-fifties the wines were sold only in barrel, then in 1957-58, Louis Voge and his son Alain began to bottle their own wines, which increased after the death of Louis in 1965. The domaine rose to prominence when Alain joined his father’s smallholding in the late 1950s, moving it from polyculture to focusing exclusively on wine.
In the 1960s lower vineyard lands were rapidly lost to housing and the Voge family began to renovate the higher parcels such as "Chaillots" and "la Côte," first by hand then with back-hoes and tractors. The estate progressed under Alain with the wines appearing in the finest restaurants of Lyon and Paris, and work continued in the vineyards, especially in the highest parcels such as "Saint-Pierre."
Alain Voge became the Cornas appellation’s greatest advocate, championing its reputation internationally as well as at home. Until his death in ’20, he was regarded as the godfather of this portion of the Rhône.
