Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 2016

97/100 vinous

"Brilliant purple. Dark fruit, floral and spice qualities on the hugely perfumed, expansive nose, along with suggestions of incense, olive and smoky minerals. Stains the palate with powerful, youthfully concentrated blueberry, cassis, spicecake and violet pastille flavors that are given spine and lift by a core of zesty acidity. Lingers with outstanding tenacity on the sharply delineated, floral-driven finish, which is shaped by chewy, slow-building tannins."
(Josh Raynolds, vinous.com)

"Thierry Allemand has been working the steep slopes just outside the town of Cornas since 1982, when he planted his own vineyard. Since then, he has slowly added plots, and now has roughly 10 acres under vine, most in prime spots and granite soils. The winemaking here is very traditional, with little destemming and the wines spending up to two years in older barrels and foudre, with little racking, before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. He normally releases two Cornas; the younger vine cuvee, the Chaillot, which comes from vines from 5 to 40 years in age, and the older vine cuvee, the Reynard, which comes from the oldest vines on the estate (34- to 90-year-old vines)."
(Jeb Dunnuck, robertparker.com)