1989 Cornas

I actually find the 1989 Cornas to be a shade better than the '90 right now, but at this stage, 25 years out, we're well into the bottle variation stage of wines' evolution so I could take a different view on any given day. The wine displays highly complex bouquet that evokes raspberry liqueur, incense, potpourri and smoky bacon, with a powerful Asian spice nuance adding lift. It offers palate-staining red fruit and floral pastille flavors, along with suggestions of licorice, olive and fruitcake. Weighty but vibrant, it finishes sweet, seamless and extremely long, with a deft interplay of richness and tension. I suspect that the Cornas will age for at least as long as its 1990 sibling and probably longer but there's plenty of pleasure to be had from it now.