Xavier Vignon Cornas

Rather difficult to place this wine as it was aged for decades before being bottled. So despite being rather old it still tastes very primary, although everything is very well knit together. You get good ripe Rhone fruit, pepperiness and quite a gravelly edge. A good wine with a long future ahead of it. But is it really worth the £84 I paid for a bottle - I don't really think so. It benefits from extended aeration.

Decanted an hour. At least moderate acidity. Red fruit. Almost drinking like a burgundy. No meatiness. Overall good but no wow factor

Behöver nog massor av luft. Smakade surt och inte mycket mer.. Coravin från vatten, det hade varit kul att prova en flaska som fått lufta lite… och kanske med lite mat.

Premium Rhône Tasting (K&L Wines, San Francisco) : Aged in concrete for 22 years. Garnet core fading to light tawny color. Very smoky, leathery aromas. Medium to lighter bodied. Complex mix of herbs, ash, dull red fruit, a citric twist, excellent acidity, and some residual acidity. Something lightly "sausage" about it too, but it is clean. Excellent length, dry finish. Extraordinarily interesting, elegant wine that just oozes Syrah character. It's not done yet, either.

A bit simplistic but very nice easy drinker. Aged in tank for like 20 years before bottling.

A Rhône Rapture (K&L Wine Merchant - San Francisco) : Vibrant nose of fresh red fruits, with dried earth, light green stems and aromatic red flowers. Still fresh red fruits, dry in style, with woody twigs and dried earth. Hard for me to pick up any kind of smoked meats. Amazingly fresh and youthful, and even pleasant to taste now, but this could still easily use another 10 years with probably almost little effect to its youthful character. I would …

new and aged Rhones : somewhere between garnet and ruby colour and medium body. cassis and blackberry aromas are laced with fresh red cherry, potpourri, leather and smoke. deceptively simple on an entry of fruit, herbs and liquorice that seem medicinal, it broadens enigmatically to primary and tertiary notes, to bright and opaque flavours, to citric and mineral accents. well-resolved tannins carry thru to good persistence. developed but not fully matured, this will probably open up nicely in a year …