2017 Cornas Pur Noir
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Tasting notes
Similarly inky hued, the 2017 Cornas Pur Noir is the top wine and a selection of the best barrels that make up the Vin Noir release. It offers a Hermitage-like bouquet (I would guess Bessards blind) of blackcurrants cassis, scorched earth, rare meat, smoked game, and ground pepper. This flows to a magical wine that builds incrementally on the palate, with incredible depth and purity of fruit, perfect tannins, no hard edges, and a monster finish. This is the essence of Cornas presented with refinement, elegance, and power. It’s one of the finest Cornas I’ve ever tasted and I suspect has 25-30 years of prime drinking ahead of it. Hats off to the genius of Stéphane Robert for yet another magical wine! Enough can’t be said about the quality now coming from the domaine of Stéphane Robert. Both his reds and whites are world-class in every sense.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
There are only about 700 bottles of Robert's 2017 Cornas Pur Noir, so if this is your jam, you better move quickly to secure some. Smoke and vanilla frame huge blackberry and cassis fruit on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is velvety while remaining fresh and lively. Yes, this is a tannic wine, but the tannins are fully ripe, and the wine isn't unapproachable, even now. It should drink well for up to 15 years or so.
Glass-staining ruby. Expansive, mineral- and spice-accented aromas of blackberry, cherry compote and violet take on olive and bacon fat nuances with air. Juicy, focused and energetic in the mouth, offering intense, alluringly sweet black and blue fruit preserve and floral pastille flavors that become deeper and spicier as the wine stretches out. The floral and mineral notes carry strongly through an impressively long, juicy finish that features harmonious tannins and a touch of sweet chewing tobacco.