Cornas

Perhaps, slightly unfashionable some 20 years ago, the tiny village of Cornas is firmly back in wine lovers’ thoughts. A new generation of winemakers is starting to breathe new life into this beautiful hillside appellation. Size-wise it is fractionally larger than Hermitage with around 155 hectares under Syrah. You can split this into two areas, the lower plateaus, and the famed hillside areas where most of the top wines are from.

The older generation made muscular, tannic wines here that took forever to come around. These days a brighter, fresher style is favoured. The wines are now definitely more approachable in their youth, but still retain that exuberant core of black fruits is the main drive to Cornas, and one that is going to get more attention from consumers in the years to come.