Wine Advisor
Auguste Clape, Cornas 2019
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Inky ruby. An expansive and highly complex bouquet evokes mineral- and spice-tinged dark berry preserve, potpourri, olive paste and smoky bacon qualities on the deeply perfumed nose. Juicy, expansive and appealingly sweet, offering densely packed blueberry, kirsch, licorice, espresso and candied violet flavors that are supported by a core of juicy acidity. Slowly building tannins add grip to an impressively long, finely detailed finish that strongly echoes the floral and mineral notes.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
A highly complex bouquet evokes ripe black/blue fruits, candied flowers, olive paste, smoked meat, incense and potpourri, and mineral and earth notes appear as the wine opens up. Stains the palate with intense, spice- and mineral-accented bitter cherry, dark chocolate and violet pastille flavors that show wonderful definition and back-end cut. Velvety, slow-building tannins add shape to an extremely long, subtly chewy finish that delivers real power and mineral drive.
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
Tremendously dense and powerful, the 2019 Cornas is a dazzling, dark-fruited beast that's loaded with mint, cassis and licorice notes. Full-bodied and almost overflowing with intensity, it somehow manages to pull all that impressive richness and extract into a silky, fine-grained finish of amazing length and elegance. Unless you are hell-bent on trying it on release, give it some time in the cellar—it should be peaking around 2035 or so.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
I love the enveloping nose of smoke, cocoa powder and damson plum that pulls you deep into this very concentrated Cornas with its rich, velvety tannins and stony minerality that run very smoothly through the long, complete finish. Drink or hold.
About the Producer
Domaine Auguste Clape is located in the Rhone Valley region of France. The estate was founded by the Clape Family and is now run by Pierre-Marie Clape and Oliver Clape. Château Auguste Clapa now has 8 hectares of vineyards, all on terraces within the Colnas appellation. Due to the steep terrain of the vineyards, plantation management is carried out by hand. There are no formal rules for the vineyard, but rather the most traditional planting patterns, based on intuition, experience and common sense. The vineyard soil is mainly granite and clay, and the main grape varieties are Syrah and Marsanne, with an average vine age of 40 years. The grapes are hand-picked and carefully selected before being used in the production of the wines. The must for the Domaine Auguste Clape Saint-Peray Blanc is fermented in concrete tanks and, after fermentation, the wine is matured in stainless steel tanks for 8 months. The must for the red wines is fermented in large wooden vats and the length of fermentation is usually 12 days. Of these, the Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas and the Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas Renaissance are matured for 22 months in 600 litre or 1,200 litre vats. The Domaine Auguste Clape Cote du Rhone and the Domaine Auguste Clape Le Vin des Aims are matured for 6 months in concrete tanks and large wooden barrels respectively.
