Domaine Pierre Gaillard Cornas 2020

Domaine Pierre Gaillard Cornas comes from a hectare of seventy-year-old Syrah on the cool, east-facing granite slope of Cayret, vines once farmed by Marcel Juge.

Cornas is the southernmost of the northern Rhône's red appellations, a steep amphitheatre of decomposed granite facing east above the village, and is planted entirely to Syrah. It has a long-standing reputation for the most tannic and slow-evolving wines of the region, though a number of growers now make versions that can be approached earlier. Pierre Gaillard, based at Malleval in Saint-Joseph country, works parcels across the northern Rhône, and his Cornas plot lies on the Cayret slope below La Gaynale, on ground previously tended by the late Marcel Juge, one of the appellation's traditional figures. As with all of Gaillard's reds the fruit was de-stemmed. The wine was raised for eighteen months in fifty per cent new oak and bottled unfiltered, which gives a Cornas with more polish and finesse than the appellation's austere reputation implies.

Approachable young but worth five to ten years. Serve at 16-18°C with grilled lamb, braised beef or a peppered steak.

*Every effort is made to ensure the current vintage is accurate; however, variations can occur. If you are after a specific vintage, please contact us prior to ordering.