Wine Advisor
Alain Voge, Cornas Les Vieilles Fontaines 2015
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
Only produced in top vintages (this is the first since 2012), the 2015 Cornas Vieilles Fontaines comes from 80-year-old vines within the La Fontaine lieu-dit. It's a tough wine to evaluate at this stage, as it's quite closed and reticent on the nose, showing some crushed-stone notes and typical granite-based austerity, but on the palate it shows great purity of fruit and vigor. It's full-bodied but tight-laced, focused on driving through the long finish like a thoroughbred down the stretch. Give it at least 5 years in the cellar.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque ruby. Mineral-accented aromas of ripe blackberry, cherry liqueur, licorice candy and vanilla, plus an exotic Indian spice nuance that gains strength as the wine opens up. At once weighty and energetic, offering densely packed black and blue fruit preserve flavors and hints of candied flowers, smoky minerals and spicecake. Smoothly blends power and energy and finishes pure and extremely long, featuring repeating spiciness and smooth, harmonious tannins.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
(aged in barriques and demi-muids, 25 percent of them new, for two years) Saturated ruby. Deep-pitched black and blue fruit scents are complicated by suggestions of potpourri, smoky minerals, incense and cola. Broad, fleshy and concentrated, offering palate-staining but shockingly vivacious cherry, blueberry and floral pastille flavors accented by smoky Indian spices and minerals. Sweet and penetrating on the youthfully tannic finish, which shows superb clarity and dark-fruit-driven persistence.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Some riper plum and spiced figs on the nose with dark coal smoke, too. The palate has a slightly candied feel, with peppery and spicy dark plum fruits and a grainy finish. Drink now.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque ruby. Mineral-accented aromas of ripe blackberry, cherry liqueur, licorice candy and vanilla, plus an exotic Indian spice nuance that gains strength as the wine opens up. At once weighty and energetic, offering densely packed black and blue fruit preserve flavors and hints of candied flowers, smoky minerals and spicecake. Smoothly blends power and energy and finishes pure and extremely long, featuring repeating spiciness and smooth, harmonious tannins.
About the Producer
Domaine Alain Voge is a family-run winery based in Cornas and has over time built itself the reputation as a superstar of the appellation and its benchmark without doubt. It was founded many generations ago but was blessed with the talented beginnings in winemaking by Alain himself in 1958. Alain tore up the rule book, updated the winemaking techniques of his father, expanded the vineyards and began bottling his wines himself. With over 70 parcels of vines totaling seven hectares, it is no wonder that Alain Voge sometimes seems distracted. Half in jest, he says that the reason he harvests so late is to figure out which vines are his. He spent some time under Albéric Mazoyer, manager and associate of Alain Voge from 2004-2018, before progressing further and making a start in organic production. Thus, since 2013,the whole vineyard is run using biodynamic agriculture, where an artisan and entirely manual viticulture is practiced on the slopes of the Rhône’s rive droite. Since 2018,Lionel Fraissehas been at the helm. He continues to champion the sustainable winemaking of his predecessors.
