TN: Vincent Paris 2013 Cornas La Geynale

[Ray Barnes]

I believe this patch of vines was purchased from Robert Michel, who at one time used to supply some of this wine to Tardieu Laurent's Cornas Vieilles Vignes. I'm having a difficult time assessing this wine. True to the area, it was very dark purplish-red, almost but not quite opaque. The initial aromatics were almost explosive, full of black cherry, licorice and earth, promising something pretty extraordinary. After about 15 minutes, the wine became smoother, but never felt really rounded, fully ripe and integrated. On top of that, the bouquet faded rather quickly. The palette weight and length was pretty good, but IMHO unexceptional. I'm not sure if this was due to the cool vintage, or if the wine was simply too young. Overall, it was very satisfying, but not thrilling, in spite of an amazing start, which almost made me wonder if this was a mislabelled Chambertin Clos de Beze. At about $40 a bottle, it was very good value. It was also incorporated in the actual dish, which did wonders for the sauce and the green peppers. I think it's excellent now, but may have better days ahead.