Cornas La Geynale, Domaine Vincent Paris 2017

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.

The 2017 Cornas Geynale is the only wine in the lineup to not be destemmed and it comes all from the La Geynale lieu-dit. Deep saturated purple-colored, with beautiful notes of blackcurrants, smoked herbs, earth, pepper, and tons of meatiness, it's certainly the most classic in style, as well as structured and tannic. Give this full-bodied beauty 2-4 years of bottle age and it's going to drink nicely for 10-15 years or more. It's an awesome wine for the true Cornas lovers out there.

It’s important to understand the three Cornas cuvées from the young Vincent Paris. The Granite 30 is a younger vine cuvée from less steep hillside parcels (roughly 30 degrees), and it’s mostly destemmed and brought up in a mix of mostly used barrels. There are about 1,000 cases produced. The Granite 60 comes from older vines in the Patou, Les Mazards and Sauman lieux-dits, and steep slopes (60 degrees, which is where the cuvée gets its name). This cuvée sees some stem inclusion and a similar time in mostly used barrels. This cuvée is normally a solid step up in depth and quality over the Granite 30. Roughly 400 cases is a normal production level for this release. Lastly, the La Geynale comes from the oldest vines of the estate, which were planted in 1910 and are located in the Geynale and Reynard lieux-dit. This cuvée sees very little destemming and is aged in, again, mostly neutral barrels. This is always the most backward, classically styled release in the lineup and takes a few years to integrate its stems. Nevertheless, it’s an incredible Cornas.