Revisiting a Cornas Legend, Warming Up in Maipo and Barolo’s Quiet Shift: Weekly Tasting Report

Our latest Weekly Tasting Report covers 374 wines, with the tastings of Senior Editor Stuart Pigott and Tasting Manager Kevin Davy in the famous French appellations of Cornas and Cote-Rotie in the Northern Rhone uncovering some extraordinary offerings and confirming the extremely high standard of winemaking occurring in both places.

The brightest of these superstars was in Cornas at Thierry Allemand, our first visit to this legendary producer since the Covid Crisis. We have often enjoyed drinking Allemand’s Cornas from the Chaillot and Reynard vineyards sites, the wines of which have now been renamed Cornas C and Cornas R. However, none of them were quite as amazing as what Stuart and Kevin tasted in the humble cellar of this small winery.

The perfect Thierry Allemand Cornas R 2022 (formerly known as Reynard, the vineyard it comes from) is almost overwhelming. It’s hard to wrap your head around how a red wine can have this enormous concentration and giant structure yet be so refined and silky. And the fine-tuned and very expressive Thierry Allemand Cornas C 2022 (formerly known as Chaillots) is hot on its heels.

The other long-established star of Cornas is Domaine A. Clape, where Stuart and Kevin not only tasted the 2022, 2023 and 2024 vintage wines with Olivier Clape, he also gave them a deep dive into the appellation. More about this in Stuart’s forthcoming report.

We are convinced there wouldn’t be so many exciting producers here were it not for the fact that decades ago, Domaine A. Clape was producing wines like the Domaine A. Clape Cornas 2022, the tasting of which Stuart likened to listening to a piece of organ music in a cathedral when the bass kicks in. It is very meaty, but a wealth of blackberry aromas unfurls as this long-term masterpiece aerates.

For those in search of Cornas bargains, Stuart and Kevin suggest the wines of Vincent Paris, his finest being the Vincent Paris Cornas Le Geynale 2023, which combines the structure of classic wines from the appellation with modern purity and precision. However, even the Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 30 2023, which is much more friendly in price, stunned them with its great energy and crystalline finish.

Also look out for the exciting wines from our new discovery, Johann Michel (like Allemand, not a German in spite of the name!), and for the combination of power and vibrancy in the wines of Franck Balthazar. Together with Vincent Paris they are the new guard of Cornas.

In Cote-Rotie, Stuart and Kevin had a breathtaking tasting of the single-vineyard wines of the 2022 vintage with Stephane Ogier, who was the most important rising star over the last years. The most amazing of these was the Stéphane Ogier Côte-Rôtie La Belle Hélène 2022 from the Cote Brune side of the appellation. It is a very deeply structured and scented wine with an extremely exciting interplay of sinewy tannins and a pulpy center.

Because it is not even a Cote-du-Rhone, never mind a Cote-Rotie, the Stéphane Ogier Collines Rhodaniennes L’Âme Soeur Syrah de Seyssuel 2022 is a great value. The bouquet is hypnotically beautiful, the wine’s meaty and smoky elements wrapped in a deep blanket of forest berry aromas.

Stuart and Kevin were also knocked out by the wines of Domaine Rostaing, where the Domaine Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde 2021 is one of the stars of the underrated vintage. This seductive and scented beauty features very fine-grained tannins, bright acidity and an ethereal violet aroma.

Unlike those wineries that are down in the valley close to the bank of the Rhone, the famous Domaine Jamet is located among green fields high above the valley. Here, Stuart and Kevin tasted the best Cotes-du-Rhone of their entire trip, the concentrated and highly structured Domaine Jamet Côtes-du-Rhône Equivoque 2022, which is a Cote-Rotie lookalike for a fraction of the price. No surprise that the Cote-Roties here were also very impressive!

For Stuart and Kevin, the biggest surprise in Cote-Rotie was Maison Stephan. Jean-Michel Stephan is widely considered a natural winemaker although he does make one small sulphite addition just before bottling. His wines have a dazzling vitality and are extremely expressive with moderate alcohol in the Northern Rhone context.

None is more extraordinary than the Maison Stephan Côte-Rotie Coteau de Tupin 2022, which has haunting aromas of smoked bacon crushed rocks intertwined with a cornucopia of forest berries. For a red wine with this huge concentration, it is astonishingly graceful, the finish at once silky and energetic, stony and juicy.

The contrast to the Cote-Rotie wines of the world-famous house of E. Guigal could hardly be more dramatic. They are built on a self-confidently grand scale and see plenty of new oak during their long cask aging. Here, too, a minor miracle has been worked in the challenging 2021 vintage. The E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 2021 has enormous power, but it is channeled and restrained. The complex aromas range from dark berries to bark and cocoa powder.

There was also one spectacular dry white viognier, the Domaine Georges Vernay Condrieu Coteau de Vernon 2022. It delivers a seductive stream of almonds and petals, the impressive floral and bitter almond flavors giving this such balance and vitality.

Warming Up in Maipo

We also uncovered a few high-scoring Chilean wines that senior editor Zekun Shuai tasted during his recent trip to the South American country, where a few producers stood out, including Viñedo Chadwick, Seña, Tabalí, Clos Apalta, Lapostolle, Garage and Morandé.

Right at the top was the perfect-scoring Viñedo Chadwick Cabernet Sauvignon Valle de Maipo 2023 – the 25th vintage of this iconic wine from the Errazuriz Group that, once again, deeply impressed. For most wine regions within Chile’s Central Valley, such as Maipo, 2023 was a warm year, with temperatures during the ripening period slightly higher than the historical average was a warm year.

Picking for the Chadwick 2023 started about a week ahead of the historical norm, with the cabernet sauvignon grapes in the blend (96 percent of the wine) picked between the second and third week of March and the 4 percent of petit verdot grapes picked on March 28.

This vintage reflects a subtle shift for Viñedo Chadwick, which has been reducing its reliance on oak since 2022. The 2023 wine underwent 18 months of barrel aging, down from 22 months, and incorporated 10 percent foudre, or large, wooden vats – resulting in lower wine-to-wood exposure. Zekun noted the absence of any signs of heat in the wine, which instead showcases elegance, complexity and a long finish with firm, chalky tannins.

Errazuriz’s other “flagship” blend from Aconcagua Valley, the Seña 2023, also showed incredibly well, and the wine is always a little more vibrant, floral and even crunchier than the demure cabernet-sauvignon-driven Viñedo Chadwick.

Zekun also gave high ratings to the incredibly consistent Clos Apalta Valle de Apalta 2022, which is more carmenere-transparent than ever, and the Tabalí Chardonnay Valle de Limarí Caliza 2023, a terroir-driven gem from a small parcel in Talinay near the coast. The soil here has a high concentration of fragmented limestones, which are embedded to its granitic base. The wine is radical, with a pH as low as 2.92 and acidity as high as 8.85g/L. On the palate, it is chalky, limey and uniquely saline, with a melted, chalky texture. Winemaker Felipe Muller and viticulturist Hector Rojas are behind the offerings that come from some of the most extreme yet exciting terroirs in the northern region of Chile today.

Barolo's Quiet Shift

Before diving into our latest tastings of the extraordinary 2021 Barolo releases – those arriving on the market after our January report – allow a brief reflection on a different but equally compelling category: the more affordable Barolos, which, in this vintage, are anything but lacking in quality.

This reflection stems from a quiet shift taking place in the Barolo landscape. With the ongoing effects of climate change, Langhe Nebbiolo – traditionally the entry-level expression from Piedmont’s Langhe region – has seen a marked rise in quality. Riper, silkier tannins and a stylistic pivot toward elegance have elevated this wine well beyond its former “baby Barolo” sobriquet.

Meanwhile, the rise of Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive (additional geographic designations) have energized producers, critics, and consumers alike. These cru-specific bottlings – representing the finest plots and the most meticulous selections – now dominate the top tier of Barolo production.

Caught in between is the classic Barolo DOCG – the so-called “village” Barolo, or Barolo classico. This category, once the standard-bearer of the denomination, now risks being overshadowed by the extremes on either side. Yet, when two friends sit down to dinner and order a bottle of Barolo, their expectations are for a great Italian red that is deep, layered and nuanced. In the rush to champion cru bottlings, we risk losing the age-old art of blending across diverse vineyard sites.

One wine that reaffirmed our faith in the category was the Francesco Rinaldi & Figli Barolo 2021, a bottle of remarkable balance and complexity. Aromas of dried cherries, peppermint, and Earl Grey tea lead to a palate that delivers the expected power, but with an unexpected grace and drinkability. This is Barolo as it was meant to be – layered, expressive and complete.

At the top of the quality pyramid, the benchmark names delivered as expected in this exceptional vintage. Poderi Aldo Conterno continues to impress, building on last year’s superb showing with a refined approach to extraction and oak usage – without sacrificing the muscular identity of Monforte and the Bussia cru. Choosing between the complete and harmonious Barolo Colonnello and the more austere Romirasco or the perfumed Cicala comes down more to personal preference than any hierarchy of quality.

The Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Colonnello 2021 unfurls in waves of citrus leaf, orange peel and peppermint, mingling with dried cherries and sweet spices. The interplay between freshness and power is masterful, with a structured, full-bodied palate that nonetheless retains a sense of elegance and grace.

Equally profound but stylistically austere is the Barolo Le Vigne from Sandrone, a wine whose delayed release now makes perfect sense. It opens with aromas of fresh red currants, cherries, violets, and a whisper of licorice. The palate is dominated by graphite, supported by firm, velvety tannins and a long, juicy acidity that feels both energetic and seamlessly integrated. The finish is polished and refined.

– Stuart Pigott, Zekun Shuai and Aldo Fiordelli contributed reporting.

The list of wines below is comprised of bottles tasted and rated during the past week by James Suckling and the other tasters at JamesSuckling.com. They include many latest releases not yet available on the market, but which will be available soon. Some will be included in upcoming tasting reports.

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