Cornas La Geynale Robert Michel 1997

Robert Michel has been running the family domain in Cornas, a few metres from Alain Voge's property, for several decades. Representing the fourth generation of winegrowers, he began his career in the 1970s and after many years selling his wine to the trade he released his first vintage in 2006. Robert Michel is renowned for having raised the standing of Cornas vineyards and championing traditional winemaking techniques. This means manual harvests, fermentation with indigenous yeasts, and élevage in used oak barrels. Today, his property extends over 5 hectares and boasts the superb, south-facing hillside plot of La Genayle with its granite and gneiss soil. His wines embody the Cornas tradition.

La Geynale owes its name to the parcel which produces the Syrah grapes comprising this wine. It is on a steep hillside located in one of the appellation's best terroirs: the Reynard quartier. This hillside is distinguished by its south/south-easterly exposure, granite and gneiss soil and the age of its hundred-year-old vines. In keeping with the producer's convictions, winemaking methods are traditional. This wine opens out with fullness and elegance into notes of black berries, balsamic vinegar and licorice. The palate is surprisingly supple. Its rich flavours coat the tannins, offering a soft, silky substance. This is a wine for keeping, with plenty of potential yet to be revealed. One for keeping for a few years.