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 directly across the river from Tournon, 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 simply asked a contact in the Northern Rhône if they could find him some Syrah fruit. The grower they found him has been the source every year since. The vineyard sits on terraced granite slopes near St Péray, just south of Cornas itself — 60-year-old vines growing in the decomposed granite soils that give Northern Rhône Syrah its particular mineral character.
The approach is not classical for Cornas. Most traditional Cornas is destemmed and given a long extraction — producing wines of great power and tannic grip that need many years to open. Mark does the opposite: 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 — still structured and age-worthy, but approachable in a way that traditional Cornas often isn’t.
Tasting notes
Deep ruby with purple hues. Blackcurrant, black cherry, pepper, and a distinctive mineral granite quality on the nose — the Northern Rhône character immediately different from anything else on the Amitié list. The palate has the structure and depth of Cornas with the fruit expression and accessibility that Mark’s approach produces. Full-bodied, firm tannins, long finish with a mineral persistence. More approachable than traditional Cornas at this stage but built to develop over the next eight to ten years. Drink now through 2034.
Service: 17°C. Lamb, beef, game, wild mushroom dishes. Taper your expectations for delicacy — this is a wine of real presence.
2022 vintage note
2022 was a warm, generous vintage across the Northern Rhône — excellent ripening conditions producing Syrah of exceptional concentration and natural richness. For old-vine Cornas from granite terraces, the vintage adds fruit weight and depth without tipping into overripeness. The wine’s natural structure holds the vintage’s generosity in balance.
