2023 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas, Rhone Valley, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

This wine embodies the estate’s commitment to traditional, low-intervention winemaking. Crafted from old-vine Syrah grown on steep, terraced granite slopes in the Cornas AOC, the wine undergoes fermentation with native yeasts and is aged in large oak foudres, reflecting the family’s dedication to preserving the terroir’s authenticity.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Domaine Auguste Clape is a legendary estate in the Cornas appellation of France’s Northern Rhne Valley, renowned for producing some of the most powerful and age-worthy Syrah wines in the world. Founded by Auguste Clape in the mid-20th century, the domaine has been a pioneer in reviving the Cornas region, which had suffered from phylloxera and economic hardship. Auguste was among the first in Cornas to bottle his own wine in 1955, setting a precedent for quality and establishing the estate’s reputation. He was instrumental in putting Cornas on the global wine map, particularly in the UK and the USA, from the early 1970s.

The estate spans approximately 8.5 hectares (21 acres) of steep, terraced vineyards, where all work is done manually due to the challenging terrain. The vines are predominantly Syrah, with some over 100 years old, planted in granite soils that impart a distinctive minerality to the wines. The winemaking process is traditional and low-intervention: grapes are fermented whole-cluster in open concrete tanks without temperature control, aged in large, neutral oak barrels, and bottled unfined and unfiltered.