Wine Advisor
Alain Voge, Cornas Les Vieilles Vignes 2015
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Peppery and quite spicy from fruit and oak influence with dark plums and some rustic meaty elements, too. The palate has firm oak tannins compressing the mid-palate and a slightly chewy finish. Try around 2020.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
Also showing the incredible purity and elegance that's the hallmark of this estate, the 2015 Cornas les Vieilles Vignes comes from the La Côte and Mazards lieux-dits and is a bigger, richer, more mineral-laced version of the Les Chailles. Black raspberries, blueberries, crushed rocks, liquid violets, black olives and new saddle leather all flow to a full-bodied, rich, concentrated Cornas that has sweet tannins (but plenty of them), impeccable balance and a killer finish. Buy it by the case (there’s a little more than 1,000 cases made) and enjoy bottles over the coming 2-3 decades.
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
Rich, deep and layered, the 2015 Cornas Vieilles Vignes has it all. Big fruit allied to spicy complexity? Check. Ample tannins that are fully ripe? Check. A finish that extends for days? Check. Oh, you want details? Hints of brown sugar, savory spices and roast meat accent black berry and plum fruit, and while the mid-palate is dense and tannic, those tannins actually turn more supple and approachable on the lingering finish.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Brilliant purple. A highly perfumed bouquet displays ripe, mineral-tinged black and blue fruit, potpourri and incense qualities. Fleshy and expansive on the palate, offering densely packed yet energetic boysenberry, candied licorice and violet flavors enlivened by an undercurrent of juicy acidity. Smoothly blends richness and finesse and closes extremely long and youthfully tannic, leaving behind sexy floral pastille and dark berry liqueur notes.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
(raised for two years in barriques and demi-muids, 25 percent of them new) Dark purple. Explosively perfumed aromas of black and blue fruits, incense, potpourri and black pepper; a minerally nuance adds vivacity. Stains the palate with deeply concentrated, spice-accented blackberry, bitter cherry and spicecake flavors, picking up floral pastille and olive paste nuances with air. Velvety, slow-building tannins shape and add grip to an extremely long, sharply focused finish, where the mineral and floral notes echo strongly. The blend of richness and vivacity here is quite something.
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.
