Today’s red is a towering Syrah from the Clape family in France’s Northern Rhône – a wine that ‘confirms the estate’s legendary status’ (Jeb Dunnuck).
Auguste Clape is among the Northern Rhône’s all-time greats, and many of our best Syrah producers have drawn inspiration from him. This 2022 Syrah exemplifies the Cornas appellation – it’s dark fruited, brooding, meaty and monolithic, with notes of violets, olive and iron and beautifully crafted tannins.
Robert Parker described Auguste as ‘the passionate guardian of a tradition that in many ways he defined… and is the reference point for the appellation (of Cornas).’ His son, Pierre-Marie, and grandson, Olivier, now carry on his legacy.
The Clape family farms 8 hectares across some of the steepest, most unforgiving terroirs in the Northern Rhône. All of the vineyard work is done by hand on these tightly stacked terraces, and fruit from the different parcels is fermented separately as whole bunches.
Whilst this Cornas Syrah is capable of extreme longevity in the cellar, it’s worth opening a younger bottle every now and then. It will stop you in your tracks and give you the context to appreciate the wine fully when it’s older.
Tasting Notes:
‘Tasting this very powerful and concentrated Cornas is like listening to a piece of organ music when the bass kicks in. Very meaty. A wealth of blackberry aromas unfurls as it aerates in the glass. More than enough fruit and flesh to wrap around the imposing core of beautifully crafted tannins. The deep bass notes echo on and on in the compelling finish.’ – Stuart Pigott, JamesSuckling.com, 98/100
‘The 2022 Cornas isn’t going to match the 2020, but we’re not far off. Tasted in its individual components, it has the riper yet still focused, structured style of the vintage, with classic aromatics of blue fruits, violets, iron, and ample textbook Clape bloody, meaty nuances. It’s not going to be a massive Cornas and is more medium to full-bodied, with ultra-fine tannins and beautiful balance. It’s a brilliant Clape in the making, as well as one for the traditionalist out there.’ – Jeb Dunnuck, 97/100
‘A tasting of various barrel samples suggests that the 2022 vintage here will be very good, if not necessarily the most powerful year. The fruit is quite dark in character and there’s a good sense of purity if not the same freshness as 2021 or 2020, or the grandeur of 2019. Nonetheless, an excellent wine and a fairly typical expression of Clape Cornas. Tannins are ripe and elegant.’ – Matt Walls, Decanter, 96/100
