Cornas is a

French wine French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities between 50 and 60 million hectolitres per year, or 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producers in the world, along with Italian, Spanish, and America ...

Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication primarily used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown, although other types of food often have appellations as well. Restrictions other than geographical boun ...

'' (AOC) in the northern Rhône wine region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

based in

Cornas Cornas is a Communes of France, commune in the département of Ardèche in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in southern France. The name is Celtic for "burnt land." Population Economy The region is famous for wine, which i ...

, south of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

. It is one of the smallest appellations in the Rhône valley and produces only red wine, from the

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

grape.

Niels Lillelund Niels Lillelund (born 1965) is a Danish writer, cultural journalist, op-ed columnist and restaurant critic at Jyllands-Posten. He is the author of several books, among those a series of crime novels about the antiquarian book dealer and ex-policem ...

: ''Rhône-Vinene'' JP Bøger - JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. , p. 105

History

The name Cornas is

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

for "burnt earth", and the first written sources mention wine in the region as early as 885.Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' JP Bøger - JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. , p. 106 Both

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

and

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

are said to have been admirers of the wine. Cornas became an official appellation in 1938 although it was not until 1950 that the first local producers began bottling the wine themselves.

Climate and geography

Cornas, along with the rest of the northern Rhône, has a

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...

rather than the

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

found in the south. However unlike some of the other northern Rhône appellations, Cornas is mostly shielded from the cold ''

le mistral ''Le Mistral'', or the ''Mistral'', was an express train between Paris and Nice in France. Introduced in 1950, it was operated by the ''Société Nationale des Chemins de fer français'' ("French National Railway Corporation") ( SNCF), and was r ...

'' winds that can last into the Spring, and is often the first appellation in the north to begin the harvest. The

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

s are just north of Valence, in a fairly small area of steep slopes facing east south east, south of Tain l'Hermitage. The vineyards are situated at anything between 100 meters and 400 meters above sealevel. In the northern part, especially near "''Les Chaillot''", the soil contains chalk but is mostly sandy and rocky, with characteristic reddish-brown dirt.Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' JP Bøger - JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. , p. 108 The sunny sector of "''Quartier de Reynard''" which has vines at 300 meters has a granite soil. To the south, near "''La Côte''" and "''La Combe''", the soil is mostly clay. It is a small appellation of only 90 hectares, with an average output of 4,000 hl.Niels Lillelund: ''Rhône-Vinene'' JP Bøger - JP/Politikens Forlagshus A/S, 2004. , p. 112 By way of comparison there are individual châteaux in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

which produce more wine than the entire Cornas appellation.

Grapes and wine

Along with most wines produced in the northern Rhône, Cornas is a red wine made from the Syrah grape. No white wines are produced. Any wines designated Cornas AOC will be made from 100% Syrah by law. Although growers could plant different grape varieties in Cornas, the appellation is planted exclusively with Syrah as any wine made from other grapes would have to be sold under a different label, probably

Côtes du Rhône AOC Côtes du Rhône is a wine-growing ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) for the Rhône wine region of France, which may be used throughout the region, also in those areas which are covered by other AOCs. In a limited part of the region, ...

and as a result would fetch a lower price. Cornas used to produce wines which required long

ageing Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...

, but a new more fruit forward style has emerged under the impulse of winemaker

Jean-Luc Colombo Jean-Luc Colombo is a French wine producer and ''negociant'' in the Rhône Valley. While Colombo produces several ''Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée'' (AOC) wines in the Rhône, such as Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Hermitage, he is most noted for bei ...

. Several producers still produce a more traditional style which typically requires 6–7 years in

barrel A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids, ...

and bottle before it is approachable.

References

Cotes du Rhone Wines Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornas Aoc Rhône wine AOCs 1930s establishments in France