2013 Cornas Les Eygats

Youthful violet. High-pitched aromas of fresh black and blue fruits, potpourri and smoky minerals are accented by suggestions of cracked pepper and anise. Sappy and focused on the palate, offering concentrated blueberry and violet pastille flavors that become more lively with air. Fine-grained tannins build steadily on the finish, which lingers with wonderful tenacity and resonating minerality.

My favorite of the 2013s was the 2013 Cornas les Eygats. All from a single, higher elevation parcel that’s located above Chaillot, it’s aged 16 months in 50% new and 50% one-year-old barrels before bottling. The most broad, expansive and mouth-filling of the lineup, it offers that classic black/blue mix of fruit (plum, blueberries, blackberries) that I always find in young wines from this appellation, to go with background minerality, pepper and smoked meat. Medium to full-bodied, ripe, fleshy and with the estate’s hallmark purity, drink this sensational Cornas anytime over the coming 10-15 years.