2022 Thierry Allemand, Cornas, Reynard

It\'s hard to wrap your head around how a red wine can have this enormous concentration and giant structure, yet be so refined and silky. Aromas of Damson plums, black raspberries and Amarena cherries exactly fill out the mouth-filling yet incredibly precise palate. Then comes the breathtaking finish that is as graceful as a great dancer who leaps effortlessly from one side of the stage to the other. From old vines in the Reynard site. 100% whole-cluster fermentation that starts as carbonic maceration, then a handful of punchdowns. Matured in large oak foudre casks. Drink or hold.

Coming largely from the granite, south-facing soils of the Reynard lieu-dit and aged in used barrels, the 2022 Cornas Reynard reveals a beautiful array of red, blue, and black fruits, violets, spice, pepper, and orange zest. The class and purity here are something else, and it's medium to full-bodied, focused, and beautifully balanced, with fine tannins and remarkable elegance. This is a sensational Cornas in the making.

The 2022 Cornas Reynard is one of the wines of the vintage in Cornas. Revealing a deeper, more complex bouquet than Les Chaillots, with aromas of dark wild berries, spices, violet, flowers and mulberries, it's medium to full-bodied, enrobing and elegant, layered and concentrated with a fleshy core of fruit, a tense, energetic mid-palate and more refined tannins that segue into a long, ethereal and violet-inflected finish. Pure and crystalline, this is a young classic in the making.