Wine Advisor
Alain Voge, Cornas Les Vieilles Vignes 2018
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
Fraisse expects to bottle the 2018 Cornas Vieilles Vignes in June 2020, after approximately 20 months of élevage. A fifth of the wine was vinified with whole clusters; 15% new oak is being utilized. Painfully young and estery, this is lifted and perfumed—spicy, but loaded with black cherries and plums. Medium to full-bodied, it's silky-ripe and almost lush in texture, yet it has a firm-enough backbone to sustain it through 15 years of longevity.
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
The 2018 Cornas Vieilles Vignes blends fruit from some of the top lieux-dits of the appellation: Combe, Patou, La Côte, Les Mazards and Chaillot. Aged 20 months in approximately 15% new oak, it's a dark, inky-hued wine, but one that retains bright, fresh fruit notes of red raspberries and plums alongside hints of cedar and menthol. It's full-bodied and concentrated on the palate, with a firm, granitic structure and sense of restraint, fine-grained, almost silky tannins and tremendous length.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet displays powerful aromas of black and blue fruit preserves, incense, peony and olive paste. Palate-staining blackberry, boysenberry, fruitcake and floral pastille flavors deepen steadily on the back half. Gains weight and sweetness with air, finishing with a jolt of smoky minerality, sneaky tannins and outstanding persistence.
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.
