2011 Cornas, La Geynale, Domaine Vincent Paris, Rhône

The 2011 Cornas La Geynale (aged 18 months in barrel) offers a wild array of smoked meat, dusty stone, gunflint, pepper and dried herbs to go with loads of black raspberry and blackberry-styled fruit. Full-bodied, rich and with big structure, it has beautiful texture, no hard edges and serious length on the finish. Give it a couple years to round into form and enjoy it through 2031.jeb_dunnuck - 30/12/2013

The 2011 Cornas La Geynale comes from 80-year-old vines planted in the southern end of the appellation. The wine was slightly reduced, making judgment somewhat hazardous. Nevertheless, it is loaded and huge in the mouth with gigantic fruit and colossal extract. Given its richness, there is none of the painful tannins and rusticity that Cornas can sometimes possess. I’ll retaste it next year from bottle and, hopefully, have a better handle on it. Vincent Paris is a child of Cornas and his biodynamically run estate now encompasses around 17-18 acres, from which he fashions three remarkable cuvees, the Granite 30, Granite 60 Vieilles Vignes and an offering from the well-known parcel of La Geynale. Paris has enjoyed three consecutive remarkable vintages (as have a number of the finest Cornas producers), 2009, 2010 and 2011. The Granite 30 generally comes from the lower hillside parcels of a lieu-dit called Mazards with soils that are mostly decomposed granite. These are also his youngest vines. You would never know that by tasting what Paris has produced in 2011 and 2010. The Granite 60 comes from three separate parcels of a lieu-dit called Sauman, which is opposite of another famous lieu-dit called Reynard. As Paris says, this is an area that gives more body as well as freshness than other terroirs in Cornas. Vines planted in these three parcels are 20, 60 and 100 years of age. robert_parker, Wine Advocate #204, Dec 2012