Only 500 Bottles Made - Stunning Traditional Cornas - US Exclusive

Many of you have had Nicolas Serrette's brilliant Cornas. We have shipped twovintagesof that wine

now and it is one of our most talked about and most popular wines. I think it is in the top tier of Cornas and qualitatively I put it up there with Stephan Robert of Domaine du Tunnell and Franck Balthazar which is heady company. I also see some Juge qualities in there. The purity and density of Nicolas' Cornas is wonderful and he picks up a fantastic soil signature.

Today I am very excited to sell the 2013 Nicolas Serrette Cornas "Les Saveaux" for $37.99 on 4 bottles.  This is from new 70 year old vineyards that Nicolas bought from his sister (we sold wine from Patou last year).  The wine is all about stunning purity of fruit and lifting aromas. The waves of fruit and the velvety tannins only add to the allure. The wine is totally destemmed than aged in oak barrels for 17 months (it will be bottled in February). It can be drunk now but will be at best in 5-10 years when the aromas really get going.  2013 is looking like another very good vintage in the Northern Rhone, particularly for Syrah.

The Euro has dropped since last year so we are passing on the savings and selling this for under $40, which is a ridiculous value for traditional Cornas made in these quantities.  Cornas like this usually cost $70-$80. Probably more.

The wines need time to unwind when they are young, but they can be drunk young.  I had a Patou the other night and after a 3 hour decant, it was stunning.  The Syrah aromas, incredible fruit and astounding structure were all there.  Ideally, these need 10-15 years for the wines to show optimally. I've tasted some great old bottles of Cornas with Nicolas and these wines age beautifully.

Nicolas only made 500 bottles of this in 2013 so it's too small to be sold through traditional retail. The harvest was done on one day. Probably an afternoon. October 1st, 2013. The only big difference between this and the Patou is the soils, which we all know can be a huge difference. In the Les Saveaux it is sand and decomposed granite which give this wine a more early accessibilty than the Patou; it's more about aromatics and fruit than structure.

Below is some background info on Nicolas Serrette from previous e-mails.

Nicolas Serette doesn't make much wine.  He's a computer programmer by day.  He doesn't have time to market or sell his wine so he just sells it incredibly cheap.  The name Serrette goes way back in Cornas to 1515 and the Serrette family has owned vines since 1938. They sold to all the big negociants in the area: Delas, Jaboulet and Chapoutier. In 1983 they decided to bottle their own wine and the wine world is a better place as a result.  Nicolas' first vintage was 2006, but before that it was called Dumien-Serette.Nicolas farms organically and uses organic fertilizer but is not certified. He presses the grapes in an old fashioned basket press. He then ages the wine in 2-7 year old barrels for two years. No secrets or sorcery just old school Cornas made in a very traditional way. 



2013 Nicolas Serrette Cornas "Les Saveaux" - $39.99 ($151.96 4-pack)