2014 Domaine Lionnet Cornas Terre Brulee - Rhone Valley, France (750ml)

Hand harvested and organically farmed plantings (40 to 100 years old) in several notable Cornas vineyards are all blended into this single flagship cuvée “Terre Brulée”: Mazards, with 50-year-old vines in granite-inflected soils of clay-limestone, is dark and powerful; Chaillot contributes classic granitic heft and dusty spice; clay-limestone Pied de la Vigne, which flanks Chaillot’s eastern edge, provides structural rigor; and Combe, the southernmost lieu-dit in the appellation, comprises sandy granite soils which give rounder, more voluptuous fruit and overtly floral aromas. Aged entirely in well-used 600-liter demi-muids, the resulting wine is a Cornas of immense concentration, deep, meaty aromatics, intense effusive spiciness, and a bristling tension that beckons for a bit of patience but is thrilling in its vibrancy.