In This Newsletter:
Cornas Sale
Rosé of the Day
The Goldilocks Wine of the Northern Rhone
Stock Up & Save On:
Cornas
Cornas Sale
Rosé of the Day
The Goldilocks Wine of the Northern Rhone
Stock Up & Save On:
Cornas
Among the excellent villages producing Syrah wines in the Northern Rhone, Cornas provides the goldilocks of reds: not as rustic as Crozes, not as polished as Hermitage, and not as elegant as Côte Rôtie, but instead a glorious middle-ground between all three.
Here we find two of our favorite Syrah producers: Domaine Durand and Vincent Paris.
The brothers Eric and Joël Durand craft wines in a sweet spot, combining elegance, drinkability, and age-worthiness. Delivering ripe fruit, savory minerality and lifted aromatics, the meticulous work by these brothers is evident from first pour. Never hyper glossy or overly rustic, these epitomize Cornas in all the ways we love.
The estate owns select parcels throughout Cornas. The plots are steeply terraced and worked exclusively by hand. Empreintes is a bottling of plots with granite soils from throughout Cornas. The wines offer powerful aromatics and a tightly tannic core worthy of a hearty decant or a decade in the cellar. The top bottling on offer is the Confidence, crafted from vines at least thirty-years-old. This is the most complex and concentrated of wines, offering up dark fruit, spice, and mineral aromatics. Powerful, this wine could cellar for quite some time but is rewarding in its youth with grippy tannins that beg to be paired with braises and fatty meats.
Just a quick five-km trip south from the Durand estate will bring you to the town of Cornas. Here, Vincent Paris crafts wines that seem to capture everything we love about Northern Rhone Syrah packaged in a clean, direct style. He has the benefit of incredible vineyard material, too, as he now works the vineyards his uncle, Robert Michel, made famous. Stylistically, there’s definitely some of that old-school Michel rusticity, but overall, his wines are far more polished and in line with what we think of as good modern Cornas. Don’t look for new oak here, though there is an elegance about them that has always impressed us.
He makes several wines from Cornas and we’re pleased we get to offer the range. From top to bottom, these are wines that you should be buying in quantity for your table and cellar. To make that a bit easier on your wallet, we’re offering you an extra 5% off orders of 6-11 bottles and 10% off orders of a case or more (mix and match!) of Vincent Paris until Sunday at 10am.
Whether you’re looking at the approachable and bistro-styled Granit 30 or the more powerful Granit 60 and La Geynale bottlings, these wines are even better deals than they already were. Plus, the Subscriber Special discount extends to his often-overlooked St. Joseph, Crozes and VdP Syrah. These wines are some of our favorites and historically have been yours, as well.
Here we find two of our favorite Syrah producers: Domaine Durand and Vincent Paris.
The brothers Eric and Joël Durand craft wines in a sweet spot, combining elegance, drinkability, and age-worthiness. Delivering ripe fruit, savory minerality and lifted aromatics, the meticulous work by these brothers is evident from first pour. Never hyper glossy or overly rustic, these epitomize Cornas in all the ways we love.
The estate owns select parcels throughout Cornas. The plots are steeply terraced and worked exclusively by hand. Empreintes is a bottling of plots with granite soils from throughout Cornas. The wines offer powerful aromatics and a tightly tannic core worthy of a hearty decant or a decade in the cellar. The top bottling on offer is the Confidence, crafted from vines at least thirty-years-old. This is the most complex and concentrated of wines, offering up dark fruit, spice, and mineral aromatics. Powerful, this wine could cellar for quite some time but is rewarding in its youth with grippy tannins that beg to be paired with braises and fatty meats.
Just a quick five-km trip south from the Durand estate will bring you to the town of Cornas. Here, Vincent Paris crafts wines that seem to capture everything we love about Northern Rhone Syrah packaged in a clean, direct style. He has the benefit of incredible vineyard material, too, as he now works the vineyards his uncle, Robert Michel, made famous. Stylistically, there’s definitely some of that old-school Michel rusticity, but overall, his wines are far more polished and in line with what we think of as good modern Cornas. Don’t look for new oak here, though there is an elegance about them that has always impressed us.
He makes several wines from Cornas and we’re pleased we get to offer the range. From top to bottom, these are wines that you should be buying in quantity for your table and cellar. To make that a bit easier on your wallet, we’re offering you an extra 5% off orders of 6-11 bottles and 10% off orders of a case or more (mix and match!) of Vincent Paris until Sunday at 10am.
Whether you’re looking at the approachable and bistro-styled Granit 30 or the more powerful Granit 60 and La Geynale bottlings, these wines are even better deals than they already were. Plus, the Subscriber Special discount extends to his often-overlooked St. Joseph, Crozes and VdP Syrah. These wines are some of our favorites and historically have been yours, as well.
5% off any 3-5 in-stock bottles of Cornas
10% off any 6+ or more in-stock bottles of Cornas
Discount will not display online or in your cart,
We will adjust your invoice before processing your charge.
Sale ends Tuesday, May 20th at 9 am Pacific.
10% off any 6+ or more in-stock bottles of Cornas
Discount will not display online or in your cart,
We will adjust your invoice before processing your charge.
Sale ends Tuesday, May 20th at 9 am Pacific.
We offer twenty in-stock Cornas options on sale now, including:
Domaine Courbis Cornas Les Eygats 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $69, that’s $65.55 at 5% off and $62.10 at 10% off, 8 bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “The 2016 Cornas Les Eygats is the gem in 2016 and has a fresh, focused, backward style that carries notes of crème de cassis, spring flowers, pepper, and crushed rocks. With full-bodied richness, good acidity, and impeccable balance, it’s a brilliant wine, but it’s going to need 2-3 years of bottle age to show its full potential.”
This is the only listing in the USA today!
Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillots 2015 750ml Displayed Price: $359, that’s $341.05 at 5% off and $323.10 at 10% off, 3 bottles in stock now
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 96 points “Deep lurid ruby. Heady, smoke- and spice-accented boysenberry, cherry liqueur and violet aromas show excellent clarity and pick up a hint of olive with aeration. Sweet and broad on the palate, offering deeply concentrated yet energetic dark berry preserve, cola and floral pastille flavors, plus a suggestion of spicecake. The extremely long, velvety finish features an echo of juicy, sweet blue fruit and harmonious tannins that come in late”
Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $189, that’s $179.55 at 5% off and $170.10 at 10% off, 5 bottles in stock now
James Suckling 98-99 points “Many layers of aromas, complex and spicy with a fragrant array of dark brambly berries, dark plums, dark chocolate. Spices and peppers, as well as graphite-like stony notes. There’s a silky core to the palate with extreme power, all delivered so precisely that appear light and elegant. Sweet spiced-fruit flavors run long and bright, exploding in a spectacular spicy finish. Spends two winters in the cellar to deliver finesse in terms of tannins. Barrel sample.”
Delas Freres Cornas Chante Perdrix 2019 750ml Displayed Price: $69, that’s $65.55 at 5% off and $62.10 at 10% off, 33 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 93 points “A core of juicy red currant and bitter plum pāte de fruit flavors is brought into nice focus by a racy, chalk-edged structure and an iron spine, while subtle savory and dark olive accents dart in the background. Best from 2022 through 2034. 1,083 cases made, 60 cases imported. –JM”
This is the only listing in the USA today by-the-bottle!
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Confidence 2018 750ml Displayed Price: $59, that’s $56.05 at 5% off and $53.10 at 10% off, 20 bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “One of my favorite Cornas, the 2018 Cornas Confidence comes from pure granite soils and was partially destemmed and brought up in 30% new French oak. The 2018 is a head-turner, revealing a dense purple color as well as sensational notes of crème de cassis, smoked bacon, graphite, bouquet garni, and liquid rock-like minerality. Rich, full-bodied, and opulent, with sweet tannins, this is one sexy Cornas that’s going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and cruise for 10-15 years in cold cellars.”
This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Empreintes 2019 750ml Displayed Price: $44.50, that’s $42.28 at 5% off and $40.05 at 10% off, 15 bottles in stock now
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Empreintes 2019 1.5L Displayed Price: $99, that’s $94.05 at 5% off and $89.10 at 10% off, 2 magnums in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 95 points “Iron, peppered game, smoked black and blue fruits, and new leather notes emerge from the 2019 Cornas Empreintes, and it’s medium to full-bodied and wonderfully balanced, with ripe tannins and one hell of a great finish. It’s another pure, balanced, fruit-loaded beauty from this estate that has tons of character. This cuvée comes from hillside parcels (a mix of granite and limestone) and 30-year-old vines. It was 75% destemmed and spent a year in 20% new barrels.”
This is the only listing in the USA today for the magnum!
Domaine Guillaume Gilles Cornas 2018 750ml Displayed Price: $108, that’s $102.60 at 5% off and $97.20 at 10% off, 27 bottles in stock now
Rosenthal Wine Note “Cornas: This is the grand wine of this tiny domaine. The vines are situation on the higher slopes of the Chaillot vineyard. The “terroir” is more complex here with a mixture of soil types and expositions. There are terraces of pure granite that are oriented east – southeast; then, these are supplemented by terraces that sit on a clay-limestone base that have a full southern exposure. The grapes are never destemmed, the cuvaison is long (30 days) and the elevage is in demi-muids for eighteen months. As with the other wines of the domaine, this wine is neither fined nor filtered.”
Domaine Lionnet Cornas Terre Brulee 2019 750ml Displayed Price: $69, that’s $65.55 at 5% off and $62.10 at 10% off, 8 bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “The 2019 Cornas Terre Brûlée showed brilliantly, with an exotic style in its darker fruits as well as notes of camphor, balsam wood, plums, and ground pepper. It has tons of minerality on the palate and is full-bodied, concentrated, and powerful, with enough tannins to warrant a solid 5-7 years of bottle age. It’s a beautiful, classic, impeccably made Cornas that will have two decades of longevity.”
This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas La Geynale 2023 750ml Displayed Price: $79, that’s $75.05 at 5% off and $71.10 at 10% off, 12 bottles in stock now
Nicolas Greinacher-Vinous 90-92 points “The 2023 Cornas Granit 30 is exquisite, unwinding with alluring rose water, blood orange, black cherry, licorice and stemmy subtleties. Round and refreshing, the 2023 is shaping up to be an accessible Cornas that’s packed with remarkable energy and freshness all the way through to the juicy finish.”
This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!
Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 30 2022 750ml Displayed Price: $49, that’s $46.55 at 5% off and $44.10 at 10% off, 19 bottles in stock now
James Suckling 96 points “So expressive and so precise, this is a great modern Cornas. Haunting nose of black forest berries with notes of dry forest floor and wild herbs. Then comes the wonderful combination of restrained richness and youthful freshness on the vertical, medium-bodied palate. And just as the coolness of evening follows the heat of the day, the mineral vibrancy of the finish follows the succulence of the mid-palate. Drink or hold.”
Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 60 2023 750ml Displayed Price: $64.50, that’s $61.28 at 5% off and $58.05 at 10% off, 12 bottles in stock now
Nicolas Greinacher-Vinous 92-94 points “Juicy grapefruit, orange blossom, red plum, fresh violet and stemmy nuances introduce the 2023 Cornas Granit 60. Rose petal and graphite add more complexity. Built around well-rounded tannins, the 2023 is a full-bodied, seductive Cornas that shines with outstanding purity, freshness and complexity.”
This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!
Shop our twenty Cornas selections now!
Rosé of the Day
Proprietà Sperino
Paolo di Marchi is a pioneering winemaker who revitalized two Italian wine regions. He first gained fame in Tuscany, revitalizing Chianti, and later returned to his family’s winery in Piedmont to rehabilitate it using techniques he’d learned in Tuscany. Today that winery, Proprieta Sperino, is run by his son, Luca, who produces high-quality wines that reflect both the region’s unique character and the family’s modern winemaking approach.
Their rosé is one of our favorites. Concentrated, and loaded with orange zest and baking spice flavors, this Nebbiolo-based wine is worthy of drinking year-round and affordable enough to stock up.
In Stock Now:
Proprieta Sperino ‘Rosa del Rosa’ Rosato Coste della Sesia, Piedmont 2023 750ml $24 special, 35 bottles in stock now
Importer Note “85% Nebbiolo / 15% Vespolina. Rosa del Rosa Rosato is mineral, fresh, and savory. A beautiful salmon color, the wine exhibits scents of rose petal and strawberry. Cantaloupe and ripe peach flavors evolve into a vivid, pink grapefruit-like citrus acidity on the midpalate. The finish is long and dry. Ripe strawberry flavors are complemented by minerality and a little pepper.”
No reviews available for the 2023 vintage. 2022 review provided for reference.
Eric Guido-Vinous 91 points “The 2022 Rosa del Rosa is delicate and airy in the glass, slowly evolving with green melon, dusty rose and ginger. It’s silk and enveloping with a burst of minerality up front that gives way to young peach and savory spice. This leaves the palate bone dry yet watering for more as the 2022 finishes pleasantly chewy and with medium length. This is a more understated vintage for the Rosa Del Rosa, yet still pleasurable.”
Their rosé is one of our favorites. Concentrated, and loaded with orange zest and baking spice flavors, this Nebbiolo-based wine is worthy of drinking year-round and affordable enough to stock up.
In Stock Now:
Proprieta Sperino ‘Rosa del Rosa’ Rosato Coste della Sesia, Piedmont 2023 750ml $24 special, 35 bottles in stock now
Importer Note “85% Nebbiolo / 15% Vespolina. Rosa del Rosa Rosato is mineral, fresh, and savory. A beautiful salmon color, the wine exhibits scents of rose petal and strawberry. Cantaloupe and ripe peach flavors evolve into a vivid, pink grapefruit-like citrus acidity on the midpalate. The finish is long and dry. Ripe strawberry flavors are complemented by minerality and a little pepper.”
No reviews available for the 2023 vintage. 2022 review provided for reference.
Eric Guido-Vinous 91 points “The 2022 Rosa del Rosa is delicate and airy in the glass, slowly evolving with green melon, dusty rose and ginger. It’s silk and enveloping with a burst of minerality up front that gives way to young peach and savory spice. This leaves the palate bone dry yet watering for more as the 2022 finishes pleasantly chewy and with medium length. This is a more understated vintage for the Rosa Del Rosa, yet still pleasurable.”
This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
Browse our forty-seven in-stock rosé selections now!
Don’t miss our additional sales going on now:
The Wines of Hebrart, Piollot, and Savart
5% off any 3-5 in-stock bottles of Hebrart, Piollot, and Savart
10% off any 6+ or more in-stock bottles of Hebrart, Piollot, and Savart
Fontodi & Casanova di Neri
5% off any 3-5 in-stock bottles of Fontodi & Casanova di Neri
10% off any 6+ or more in-stock bottles of Fontodi & Casanova di Neri
Discount will not display online or in your cart,
We will adjust your invoice before processing your charge.
Hebrart, Piollot, and Savart sale ends Sunday, May 18th at 9 am Pacific. Fontodi & Casanova di Neri sale ends Monday, May 19th at 9 am Pacific.