2012 Cornas La Geynale
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Tasting notes
Vivid ruby. Intense aromas of cassis, blackberry, olive paste and floral pastilles, with a smoky mineral topnote. Pliant and appealingly sweet on the palate, offering vibrant dark berry liqueur flavors and an enlivening note of black pepper. Finishes long and spicy, with excellent focus and energy and dusty tannins that add shape and grip.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
My favorite of the trio (but not by much), the 2012 Cornas la Geynale normally is not destemmed, but in this vintage, no stems were used. Coming from a single plot of 100-year-old vines near the bottom of the famed Reynard lieu-dit and aged 18 months in older barrels, it’s a rock-star Cornas that exhibits a black/purple color to go with a huge bouquet of pepper, meat juice, black currants, wild herbs and crushed rock. Fabulously concentrated, full-bodied, rich and with stunning purity, it will need short-term cellaring and keep for 15-20 years.
Inky purple. A complex bouquet evokes ripe blackberry, cherry-cola, smoky Indian spices and potpourri. Deeply pitched, intense dark berry and cherry compote flavors are joined by sexy floral pastille and spicecake nuances and a touch of zesty minerality. Shows impressive structure but there's nice give here as well. Fine-grained tannins lend shape to the long, smoke-tinged finish, which leaves notes of dark berries, violet and cola behind.
Remarkably fragrant. Aromatic, delicately floral dark fruit. Expressive and inviting. Then the sort of dry tannins that are so perfect in combination with this expressive fruit – dry, very very fine, bringing something close to austerity to the fruit but resulting in real elegance and refinement. Overall effect right now is dry but not at all drying. GV (JH)