A. Clape Cotes du Rhone 2021
Regular price $142.00
Unit price per
- TASTING NOTE: "Plenty of forest berries, dark plums, currants, stones and baking spices on the nose. Medium to full body with fine tannins. Dark berries on the palate with structure and texture. Focused and rather ample and crisp for the appellation, with bright acidity and a succulent finish with excellent length. Best after 2024." 93 Points - JamesSuckling.com
- ABOUT THE WINE: This 100% Syrah Cotes du Rhône includes fruit from 120-year-old vines near St. Peray and declassified Cornas. Whole grape clusters are fermented with natural yeasts in open air cement tank then aged in old foudres before bottling.
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ABOUT THE PRODUCER: For a taste of the old-style Syrah from the fabulous, sculptured slopes of the Northern Rhône, Auguste Clape’s wines from Cornas are the only place to start. Though the Clapes farm only eight hectares, the challenge presented by the rough, tightly stacked terrace vineyards of Cornas is largely enough to handle by anybody’s standards. The dicey precipices make using any machinery in the vineyards impossible. All work must be done by hand. There are no official rules to their viticultural methodology—they work the old-fashioned way, by instinct, feeling, and common sense. The vineyards sit on granite subsoil, behind the village, with optimal sun exposure. They farm a number of prime parcels, including Reynards, La Côte, Geynale, Tézier, Petite Côte, Les Mazards, Patou, Pied La Vigne, Chaillot, and Sabarotte, the latter purchased from Cornas legend Noël Verset. Their only secrets: starting with old vines, and optimizing the ripeness of the fruit as best they can. They accomplish this by holding out before they harvest—a risky game of ‘chicken’ where the trick is to keep the fruit on the vine as long as possible while still harvesting before the rains. Individual parcels are vinified separately via whole-cluster fermentation. Long élevages of twelve to twenty-two months in old, oval foudres add depth to the natural complexity of the wines. The legendary Auguste Clape passed away in 2018 with his son and grandson now continuing his legacy.
- COUNTRY: France
- REGION: Northern Rhone
- SUB-REGION: Cornas
- VARIETAL: Syrah
- WINE STYLE: Red Wine
- WINEMAKER: Pierre-Marie & Olivier Clape
- CLOSURE: Cork
- ABV%: 12%
- SIZE: 750ml
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