Description
”Old vines, around 60 years old, from the terraced vineyards just before St Péray. Grown on the classic decomposed granite soils. The fermentation is not really classical for Cornas. Lots of whole bunch, very long ferment, starts cold and builds up heat to finally get to around 32°C. I really am looking for the fruit expression of Syrah — I want minerality and fruit, but I also want the strength of Cornas. Élevage in 2, 3-year-old barrels, never older but never new.
— Mark Haisma
The wine
Cornas is the smallest and most rustic appellation of the Northern Rhône — a tight cluster of terraced granite hillsides producing 100% Syrah wines of extraordinary depth and longevity. No blending is permitted. No white grapes. Just Syrah from granite, and the patience to wait for it.
Mark Haisma’s connection to Cornas began in 2010 — his first year based in France — when he asked a contact in the Northern Rhône if they could find him some Syrah fruit. The grower they found has been the source every year since. The vineyard sits on terraced granite slopes near St Péray — 60-year-old vines growing in decomposed granite soils that give Northern Rhône Syrah its particular mineral character.
The approach is not classical for Cornas. Mark uses lots of whole cluster, a long and slow fermentation that starts cold and builds gradually to around 32°C, and élevage in 2 to 3-year-old barrels — never older, never new. The result is a Cornas that leads with fruit expression and minerality rather than power and extraction.
2021 was a cooler growing season across the Northern Rhône than the warm and generous 2022 — producing wines of greater freshness and mineral precision. For old-vine Syrah on granite, the cooler year gives the wine exceptional definition and a more tightly wound structure. The 2021 will be more age-worthy than the 2022 and more rewarding in eight to ten years.
The 2022 vintage is also available — warmer, richer, and more immediately expressive.
Tasting notes
Deep ruby with purple hues. Blackcurrant, dark cherry, white pepper, and a striking granite minerality on the nose — the cooler vintage giving the aromatic profile more precision and less opulence than the 2022. The palate is structured and focused with firm tannins, excellent acidity, and a long mineral finish with real persistence. More tightly wound than the 2022 and more rewarding for patience. Decant for at least two hours. Drink 2026–2035.
Service: 17°C. Lamb, beef, game, wild mushroom dishes. A wine for a serious meal.
2021 vintage note
2021 was a challenging vintage in parts of France — though the Northern Rhône avoided the worst of the frost events that hit Burgundy. The cooler growing season produced Syrah of exceptional focus and mineral definition at the expense of the ripe generosity of warmer years. For old vines on granite with naturally low yields, the cool year concentrated the remaining fruit and produced a wine of real precision. The 2021 Cornas is the age-worthy version — drink from 2026 through 2035.
About Mark Haisma
Mark Haisma is an Australian-born winemaker based in Gevrey-Chambertin since 2007. He trained at Yarra Yering in Victoria before moving to Burgundy, where he built a micro-négociant operation from a rented cellar into one of the most sought-after small productions in the Côte de Nuits.
