2010 Cornas Vielles Fontaines

Inky ruby. Dark berry preserves, cola, Asian spices and mocha on the exotically perfumed nose. Offers an array of sappy black and blue fruit flavors and gains energy and weight with air. The spicy quality comes back strong on the finish, which features suave, harmonious tannins and shows superb focus and tenacity. This wine's blend of concentration and liveliness is a marvel.

Opaque purple. Powerful, exotic aromas of blackberry, cassis, candied licorice, clove and espresso. Seamless and intensely spicy, offering impressive sweetness to its deep dark fruit flavors. Really stains the palate on the gripping, highly floral finish.

Even better than the 2012 - and one of the greatest Cornas I've ever tasted - the 2010 Cornas Vieilles Fontaines comes from a tiny plot of old vines and granite soils named after the fountain located near the vines. Sensationally concentrated, powerful, backward and tasting like the essence of these steep granite slopes, it gives up loads of cassis, freshly crushed rock, wood smoke, black raspberry and roasted meats.This full-bodied beauty is as profound as they come, yet needs 4-5 years of cellaring and will keep for 20-30 years. Robert Parker rated this beauty 100 points on release and I can only agree with him. Hats off to Alain Voge and winemaker Albert Mazoyer. Sep 2015, www.robertparker.com