2003 Cornas Vielles Fontaines
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Tasting notes
Even more impressive, the 2003 Cornas Vieilles Fontaines is up with the creme de la creme of the vintage. Coming from a single plot of 100-year-old Syrah vines and all granite soils, it boasts thrilling notions of blackberry, crushed rock, plum, licorice and grilled herb aromas and flavors that continue to evolve and change in the glass. Notably more youthful than the Vieilles Vignes, this full-bodied Cornas has superb definition and focus, serious concentration and a blockbuster finish that keeps you pouring another glass. It will have another 10-12 years of longevity and should not be missed!
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Josh Raynolds
More reviews and scores
(from the estate's oldest vines, all over 60 years of age) Dark ruby. Exotic, heady bouquet of spicy oak, raspberry preserves and candied floral nuances. Lush and creamy on the palate, the oak notes sweetening the jammy dark berry flavors. Quite tannic on the finish, the vanilla and clove flavors building and gaining intensity with air.
Saturated red-ruby color. Wild aromas of black raspberry, bitter chocolate, mint, licorice and game, with an overlay of sexy oak. Large-scaled, creamy and extremely ripe, with a firm mineral spine leavening its sheer sucrosite With aeration, this showed some resiny, rustic notes of surmaturite At once seamless and solidly structured, with noteworthy inner-mouth energy for a 2003. The major tannins arrive late, allowing the finishing flavors to mount slowly and impressively. Voge has a relatively high 25% of this juice in new barriques and notes that the pH is a moderate 3. 7. This cuvee usually comes from the estate's highest-altitude parcels, but because some of these vines on rocky soil were stressed by heat in 2003, this year's Vieilles Fontaines is more a selection of Voge's best barrels. Among the most promising samples of Cornas I tasted from this extreme vintage.