Wine Advisor
Vincent Paris, Cornas La Geynale 2017
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
Vincent Paris's crowning achievement in 2017 is his 2017 Cornas la Geynale, which comes from 100-year-old vines on a parcel that faces due south. This is wild and woolly, boasting a wild ride of cracked pepper, blueberries, espresso and floral-herbal notes. Full-bodied and creamy-supple in texture on the mid-palate, it firms up on the long, long finish, ending with dusty tannins and plenty of grip.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Powerful, mineral-accented aromas of ripe dark fruits, olive paste, smoky bacon and exotic spices. Potpourri and cracked pepper nuances build as the wine stretches out. Sappy and sharply focused on the palate, offering densely packed, yet lively black/blue fruit, candied violet, olive and spicecake flavors that spread out and take a sweeter turn on the back half. Shows outstanding energy and sharp delineation, finishing with strong energy and youthfully gripping tannins that fade very slowly into the wine's concentrated fruit.
About the Producer
Domaine Vincent Paris is a relatively new but well-respected wine producer based in Cornas in the Rhône valley region of southeast France. The domaine specialises in Syrah wines from both the Cornas region itself and neighboring appellations. The area is traditionally known for rustic expressions of this grape, but Paris' wines attract acclaim for their combination of intensity and freshness. The first Vincent Paris wine was released in 1997 and he farms around 17 hectares (42 acres) of vineyards at various points along the Cornas slope and into Saint-Joseph. The entry-level wine is the Granit 30, produced from younger vines on gentler granite slopes – though sites on 30-degree inclines are still hard to cultivate. The Granit 60 is sourced from precipitous terraced and inclined (on slopes ranging up to 60-degrees) plots in the Patou, Les Mazards and Saumon sites in Cornas. The vines for the latter cuvée range from 40-100 years old. The range-topping La Geynale cuvée is based a century-old, one-hectare (2.5-acre) lieu-dit of the same name on a south-facing granite-based slope at the foot of the Reynard vineyard. The domaine also produces a white Côtes du Rhône combining Viognier and Roussanne from a small hilltop parcel within the (red wine-only) Cornas boundaries. A Saint-Joseph Syrah is also made from a single plot near Ardoix.
