Alain Verset Cornas 2016

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Traditional, hearty, whole bunch Cornas, that can hits the mark. Alain Verset is the son of the late Louis Verset, a confirmed part of the Cornas fabric. He works the family vineyard at the weekends, and in a local factory during the week. His daughter Emmanuelle took over in 2016, and things are on the up here. Raising is in younger casks, and handling is more gentle, amounting to an uplift in the fine-tuning of the Cornas.

Noël Verset is one of the great names of Cornas. But it is not widely known that Noël had a brother, Louis, who also made fine traditional Cornas from the family’s ancient Petite Syrah vines.

Louis was never well-known in the U.S.; his output was even smaller than Noël’s and his wines were never imported. And, while Noël finally retired in 2007 after 63 vintages, Louis stopped making wine in 1994. Today his wines are impossible to find.

Yet, Louis had a son, Alain, who took over the Domaine upon his father’s retirement and changed nothing. He continues to make fine old-school Cornas, still bearing the mythic Verset name.

Alain inherited his vines from both father and uncle. Louis’ vines are in the great Reynards, Mazards and Les Côtes crus, but amount to only about a hectare. Noël’s vines are in Champelrose.

The Verset approach, steeped in history, tradition and terroir is on full display in Alain’s beautiful Cornas. Don’t miss this rarity.

Noël’s nephew Alain carries on the tradition by making wines in the ‘old school’ way. Alain only makes about 500 cases, which is unfortunate as his wine is a classic example of Cornas terroir and winemaking.  Like Louis and Noël, he makes no single-vineyard Cornas, preferring to make a single blend in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

There is no destemming of bunches (keeping the tannic fabric of the wine for long aging potential), whole bunches are fermented for 10-15 days in concrete vats under the family home; he uses a basket press to squeeze the handpicked grapes, only uses indigenous yeasts and ages in old barrels, usually for 1 1/2-2 years in 4-5 year old casks, no fining or filtration.

Alain has about one hectare (2.5 acres) of vines in Cornas-Reynards, Mazards and Les Côtes. Look for stony mineral and granite components with savory fruit notes revealing themselves after aeration. 100% Syrah.

Vintage 2016

From Josh Raynolds of Vinous

“Following the huge success of the 2015 vintage, which produced deeply concentrated, structured and age-worthy wines, 2016 pivoted almost 180 degrees by issuing an abundance of graceful, elegant reds that showcase balance and freshness over mass and power.

Northern Rhône wine lovers with purist leanings will be head over heels with the soon-to-be-released 2016 vintage, which offers an abundance of energetic, well-balanced and generally graceful wines. As impressive as the 2015s are, I’ve encountered a not-insignificant number of collectors who view many of the wines as too much of a good thing: too ripe, too rich, too heavy, too tannic…you get the picture. Most of the producers I visit on my annual trips sympathize with that view to an extent, but are also quick to point out that 2015 is a vintage for the ages and what’s in the glass now will mostly bear little resemblance to how the wines will turn out down the road, maybe even way down the road.

There are no such qualms when it comes to the 2016s, though. A number of producers call it a “dream vintage” for the wines’ collective balance, freshness and expression of terroir. Based on the performance of the wines I tasted from barrel in late March and early June, and the handful of finished wines that I was able to try when I returned home (the barrel samples in this article are scored in a range, as usual, while the finished wines in a single numerical score), 2016 is a vintage that’s a must-buy for readers who prize Syrah built along pure, graceful, dare I say feminine, lines. Even so, the wines are in no way lacking depth of flavour or structure, which leads me to think that many of the wines will hit their 20th birthday in fine form.”

Where in the World are They?

Cornas is at the bottom of the Northern Rhône right next to Valence.
By the late seventies, Cornas had just 50 hectares of vines having suffered great losses from the phylloxera epidemic toward the end of the 19th century, the Great Depression and two world wars. The number of men working those vines was far reduced from a century earlier. Among the few who remained was Noël Verset, whose career spanned the time between Phylloxera and Cornas’ rebirth in the 1990s. Born in 1912 he joined his father on the steep granite slopes of Cornas in 1931 and continued to work as a winegrower for more than seven decades.

Cornas has a very long history of grape growing and winemaking. The Romans are believed to have planted vines in Cornas 2000 years ago, and by the 10th century, the Canon of Viviers was writing that the church in Cornas was ‘surrounded by vines.’ The Cornas vineyards today cover 130 ha (about 320 acres), almost exactly the same area as Hermitage. And given the boundaries of the appellation and the nature of the terrain, there’s little room for growth. In comparison, Côte-Rôtie is more than twice the size. Cornas does not have as long of a history as its neighbours in the northern Rhône of bottling and exporting its wines. Until the 1950s, much of the wine was still being sold by the winemakers ‘en vrac’, in bulk, to local restaurants who would sell by the glass or by the carafe straight from the barrel, or to private individuals who would carry out their own bottling. It was only once a small number of merchant houses, particularly Paul Jaboulet and Delas Frères, started buying and blending wines from smaller producers and bottling the results under their own labels that Cornas started to be seen outside the immediate region.