Domaine Lionnet Cornas Terre Brulee 2022
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The Land
The name of this wine is a translation. Cornas is usually traced to a Celtic word for burnt earth, and Terre Brûlée simply says it again in French. The description fits: Cornas sits on the west bank of the Rhône opposite Valence, in a sheltered bowl of south and southeast-facing slopes that trap heat and run warmer than Côte-Rôtie to the north. The appellation is small, around 145 planted hectares, and built on decomposed Massif Central granite, the sandy, crumbly rock the locals call gore. Lionnet's vines are spread across several of Cornas's best lieux-dits, including Mazards, Chaillot and Combe, on terraces so steep that tractors cannot work them. Planting density runs to 8,000 vines per hectare, which forces the roots down through the granite and gives the wine its dark, stony core.
The Wine
The Domaine Lionnet Cornas Terre Brûlée 2022 is 100 percent Syrah, assembled from the domaine's parcels rather than a single site, and made the way Cornas was made a century ago. Bunches go into concrete whole, never destemmed, and ferment on native yeasts, with a maceration of about three weeks and daily foot-treading. Malolactic finishes in vat before the wine moves into neutral 600-liter demi-muids and old foudres for two winters. There is no new oak, no fining, no filtration, and the domaine describes its approach as additive-free. The 2022 vintage was brutally dry, with three heatwaves topping 40°C and a mid-August storm that saved the harvest. The result is Syrah from Cornas with lift rather than bulk: violet, iris, blackberry, cracked pepper, lavender and dried rosemary, with firm, youthful tannin and a long, mineral finish carrying a thread of smoke.
The People
The Lionnet family has tended vines in Cornas since 1575, though they only began bottling their own wine in the 1950s. The modern chapter started in 2003, when Ludovic Izerable, from Grenoble, married Corinne Lionnet and joined the domaine. He converted the vineyards to organic farming immediately, and the estate is now certified organic by Ecocert, with biodynamic practices layered on top. Soil work is mechanical, done with a small tracked vehicle or by horse, and treatments are applied by hand. The holding is tiny, about 2.2 hectares, with vines ranging from around 40 to more than 100 years old, and production totals roughly 1,500 cases across every wine they make. Their cellar work is so traditional it reads as radical today.
Food Pairing
The herbal, peppery side of this wine wants food from the same hills. Try a rack of lamb crusted with Dijon and herbes de Provence, the fat softening the tannin and the herbs echoing the lavender in the glass. Duck breast seared skin-down and finished with a sauce of blackberries and red wine matches dark fruit to dark fruit. Saucisson and a plate of Saint-Marcellin or Picodon from the Ardèche give salt and cream for the acidity to cut. A slow-cooked cassoulet with Toulouse sausage is the cold-weather option. Open it with a long winter dinner, or tuck a few bottles away and let the granite come forward over the next fifteen years.
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Weather shipping advisory: Orders placed during times of extreme heat or extreme cold will be held for no charge until more favorable weather returns.
The Rhône Valley is a diverse and historic wine region, divided into two distinct areas. The Northern Rhône is the birthplace of Syrah, with steep, terraced vineyards that produce some of the world's most revered wines, such as those from Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. The Southern Rhône is much more expansive, offering a wider range of styles, but typically based around Grenache-based blends, with wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape known for their complexity and power. While the region is celebrated for its reds, it also produces incredible textured whites, and as a whole the region displays the spectrum of French wine and the incredible differences that can come from small geographic changes.
Rhone Valley
Syrah is a dark-skinned grape of French origin, specifically from the Northern Rhône Valley, where it produces some of the world's most powerful and complex wines. Known as Shiraz in Australia, Syrah is capable of displaying a wide range of aromas and flavors. Cool climate Syrahs tend to express floral notes like violets, along with savory elements like olives, while those grown in warmer climates like Australia are more likely to show black pepper and dark fruit notes such as plum. The grape's versatility allows it to adapt to various climates and soil types, but it maintains its unique characteristics no matter where it is planted.
