2012 Yves Cuilleron, Cornas “Le Village” Rhone Red, France.
This young Cornas, 100% Syrah, is deliciously fresh and alive already and can be enjoyed even now, though I expect it to age with poise and grace for another decade. I found the new Cuilleron Cornas Village to be a wonderful wine, full of flavor and vibrancy, it certainly is not nervy, or tannic, though it also lacks a bit of the stemmy intensity like the some of the other latest Cornas releases, like the wines from Gilles, Clape and or Allemand. That said, it is not a clone of what is trendy and is perfectly crafted to reflect terroir and old world charm, as well as being a super drinkable Syrah with spice, layered fruit and earth/mineral elements, I can highly recommend all of Cuilleron’s wines, especially this one, they are pure and easy to love. The 2012 Cuilleron Cornas Le Village after 18 months in barrel, and coming in at 12.5% alcohol, starts with a bouquet of meaty earth, violets, minty herbs and red fruits, leading to a palate that turns dark, to match the blue/black and purple hue with blackberry, blueberry, boysenberry, currants and plum all coming out along with bacon, pepper, cayenne, lavender, cinnamon and melted licorice finishing with hints of cedar, truffle and mission fig. This supple, refined and savvy Syrah is between medium and full bodied and shows restraint, lift and folds together remarkable well, it should be a super wine over the 3 to 5 year period gaining in depth and complexity, even though it can go longer still, drink from 2016 to 2019.
($60 Est.) 92-93 Points, grapelive
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