2003 Cornas
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Tasting notes
From one of this generation’s hottest vintages, the 2003 Clape Cornas is a rich, powerful and deeply concentrated wine that shows a sweet, liqueur-like quality to its cherry and crème de cassis flavors, which are complemented by salty olive, mineral and licorice flourishes. Aeration brings up suave floral and exotic spice notes, along with a hint of espresso. There’s almost shocking freshness to this generous Cornas, which shows the warmth of the vintage in its best light, and finishes with superb persistence and sneaky tannic grip.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
On another level, the 2003 Cornas (which has a pH of 4.1) offers gorgeous fruit and full-bodied richness, with a still lively and fresh profile. Bloody meat, blackberry liqueur, licorice and gamey notes all emerge from this knockout Cornas, and it’s drinking beautifully now. I’d enjoy bottles over the coming 5-7 years, but it will certainly evolve for longer. These two releases from Auguste Clape were a little yin and yang, with the younger vine Renaissance clearly showing the effects of the difficult vintage, and the straight Cornas showing superb richness and depth. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to taste the Reynard release.
Dark ruby. Brooding dark cherry, tobacco and bitter chocolate on the nose. Then remarkably sweet and lush, with expansive red berry and candied licorice flavors that build and gain in sweetness with aeration. Long and bright on the finish, with a late note of rose pastille.
(From young vines, destined for the Renaissance bottling) Red-ruby. Aromas of blackberry liqueur. Sweet, warm and simple, with rather rustic flavors of currant jam and leather. "The most Australian cuvee," notes Clape. A mix of 30-year-old hillside vines and old vines from the foot of the hill: Deep ruby-red. Exotic blackberry, black olive, pepper and spices on the nose. Big, broad and rich, with a deep, chocolatey flavor. Chewy, large-scaled and obviously high in alcohol (in fact, this is 15. 3%), but not at all flat. Superb for the vintage. From 50-year-old hillside vines stressed by drought: Full ruby-red. High-pitched aromas of blueberry and blackberry liqueur, licorice and dark chocolate. Rich, fat and powerful, with superripe chocolate and fruitcake flavors. Warm finish features substantial but ripe tannins. This was the ripest lot, at 15. 5%. From very old vines, mostly in Reynard: Ruby-red. Liqueur-like aromas of redcurrant, black cherry, blackberry, leather, smoke and olive, with a hint of spun sugar. Tightly wound and less sweet than the last couple of samples. Conveys an impression of stronger acidity, even if the analysis says otherwise. But Clape notes that the alcohol here is just 14%. Not at all in the thick, sweet style of so many 2003s. In fact, this seems a tad hollow, as if the ripening process was interrupted. Finishes with substantial, slightly tough tannins. This cuvee includes the fruit from vines purchased from Noel Verset, which always ripen later and give fresher wine. The ultimate blend will merit a score at the high end of my projected range if it ultimately has the aromatic nuance and verve to match its massive constitution.