Cornas 2006 from Pierre Gaillard - Master of Winemaking in the Northern Rhone
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Pierre in his modern cellars
Read what La Revue du Vin de France says about Pierre Gaillard:
"Without a misstep, Pierre Gaillard pursues a path of quality. He is dynamic and intelligent, for several years now his wines have been exciting and fascinating, winning and seductive in their youth, lacking nothing in complexity and potential. These wines are the surest values in the Rhone Valley."
I've always loved the robust and rounded red wine from Cornas. And, when you match Pierre Gaillard's winemaking prowess and intelligence with the Cornas terroir, the result is a beautiful glassful of red wine.
"Fruit and lots of it is the hallmark of the 2006 vintage in the Northern Rhone," John Livingstone-Learmonth writes in Decanter magazine.
Cornas is like a little stocking foot on the bottom of the much larger wine commune, St Joseph. Cornas produces only red wines, made exclusively from the Syrah grape. It is a very small appellation with only about 90 hectares planted.
Cornas is a very big wine. This results from the fact that Cornas sits in a big dish-like geologic amphitheatre that protects it from the cooling and brutal Mistral. The hot, nearly-baking Syrah grapes produce juice that is often described as: virile, robust, earthy, black, tannic, brooding, and massive with notes of raspberries, truffles, and cassis.
"Cornas has character, life, and energy." -La Revue du Vin de France
I think, as the standards of winemaking improve and technology is able to extract more and more flavor from a grape, our yearning for big, expressive and rich wines has increased. This does not necessarily mean a wine that is ponderously alcoholic or over-oaked (Pierre Gaillard would throw himself in the Rhone River before that happened); it means more concentration and structure.
Pierre Gaillard only has one hectare to work with in Cornas. His yields are ruinously low at 35 hectoliters per hectare. His vines are a noble and aged 70 years. Pierre exercises severe sorting and harvests by hand. The wines rest 18 months in barrels, 50% of which are new.
Put a case of this in your cellar. You will love its rich intensity. Cynthia Hurley
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