2022 Guy Farge "Harmonie" Cornas

Very meaty and savory, but also rippling with wild blackberry fruit, this well-structured, medium-bodied Cornas should delight fans of this appellation. Very good balance at the long finish. A pure syrah that was matured for a full year in oak casks. (SP)

Gaining access to the Cornas releases from Domaine Guy Farge was one of my goals when I first met Guy many years ago. They farm smaller parcels in two areas and when I visited them, his son Thomas, along with Guy took me out to show them to me. The vineyards were love at first sight. The hillsides for the Reynard parcel were so treacherous, they nearly induced vertigo. I immediately appreciated what Guy and Thomas had set out to do. Now Guy has retired and the bulk of the work falls to Thomas, who has taken a more adventurous streak. He moved all the vineyards to organic, and uses minimal inputs in his winemaking. The new Harmonie is all whole cluster from the the Sauman and Reynard hillsides. Everything is fermented with native yeasts and the wine spends about a year in used demi-muid (larger oak barrels). Dark berry fruit with a richer profile, there are elements of cocoa powder, oolong tea and new saddle leather. This is incredible purity for a young Cornas, and given an hour or more in the decanter, it opens beautifully to show you even more layers.