2022 Lionnet Cornas Terre Brulee

"Very smoky with notes of soot and tar, this is pretty radical Cornas. On the full-bodied palate, the dense, plush tannins are built on a serious scale, but the alcohol content is normal for this appellation. In fact the finish has a terrific energy and drive. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2025."

"Domaine Lionnet delivers highly expressive, unadorned and elegant wines that greatly please old-school purists. With only 2.2 hectares in Cornas and another 1.8 in Saint-Joseph, these wines have never been easy to find, and increasing attention from the market has not made things any easier. Corinne Lionnet, her husband, Ludovic Izerable, who makes the wines, and now their son, Luca, work in a strictly hands-off fashion. The wines are made with whole clusters and native yeast raised in large oak barrels, almost none of them new and, recently, some amphoras, with which they are quite pleased. Today, I would count this Domaine’s wines among the best from Cornas. Inky ruby. Intensely perfumed, mineral-accented cherry and black raspberry aromas, along with exotic spice, floral and pipe tobacco flourishes. Alluringly sweet and penetrating on the palate, offering sappy cherry-cola, dark berry, fruitcake, allspice and olive flavors that deepen steadily through the back half. Shows firm tension and excellent clarity on the youthfully tannic finish, which echoes the floral note and hangs on with superb tenacity. Drinking Window: 2027 - 2037"