Cornas Les Vieilles Vignes 2017 (Domaine Alain Voge)

Cellar for up to 20 years. Decant for up to 2 hours before serving. This is the flagship wine of Domaine Alain Voge, a lean, sinewy Syrah, made from vines with an average age of 60 years. The grapes were harvested from a variety of southeast-facing slopes across the appellation of Cornas, totalling 3.5 hectares.

On the nose, look for blueberries, blackberries, and delicate scents of warm soil and purple flowers. The Voge family have been based in the Cornas appellation of the northern Rhone Valley for over a century, with Henri, Alain’s great-grandfather, planting the first vines there in the 1900s.

Sadly, Alain Voge passed away in 2020, but during his tenure he brought the winery into the modern era, adopting biodynamic methods and opening a new wine-tasting cellar. The old vine Cornas exhibits concentrated, interlocking notes of blackcurrant and blackberry, with tart notes of plum.

Underneath the fruit, you can discover sweet, toasty notes of cinnamon, clove, and scorched earth. It was matured in large oak barrels for 20 months before release and was fermented with natural yeasts.

The tannins are grippy, leaving a pleasant, dry aftertaste. Consider pairing this Vieilles Vignes with red meats, nuts, or a mature Cheddar.