Cornas 2003 – Franck Balthazar – Alc. 13.5% - (€27 for current vintages)
2003 is not many people’s favourite vintage but I had high hopes that this Cornas would turn out to be one of its big successes.
This is what I wrote at a Cornas tasting of our sadly now defunct Club des Passionnés in 2005.
Wow! C: Purple at the rim. N: Almost explosive and very complex with notes of “confit” (roughly = “candied”) violet, raspberry, plum, bitter orange marmalade and a touch of varnish (is this VA?). P: Powerful with confit fruit aromas and burnished treacle but offset by good acidity. Strong structure with dark tannins and good length. Definitely 2003. 16.5/20 with potential ? [Pierre feels that this may equal the 1990 in time. I wonder about long term balance (those varnish notes?) but I will buy some.
In September 2009, I thought that it was fulfilling its early promise.
C: Very deep ruby red
N: Well developed with notes of bright red and black fruit with a lot of sour cherry, a dash of wet leather and earthy minerals.
P: Full bodied, complex and invigorating with lively acidity, pungently tangy and savoury fruit, pepper, crisp minerals and excellent firm tannic support towards the long finish. Youthful excess has been tamed and the candied notes have receded so as to be scarcely noticeable; only perhaps intervening to make a gutsy Cornas highly palatable as early as its sixth year. The traces of varnish were still there but there is no trace of any new wood (indeed I believe that Balthazar uses none); some may feel that it is a touch rustic but I love its earthy vigour; 16.5/20+++
Last week’s bottle, however, showed an evolution which IMO is premature for Cornas in its 9th year.
There were now some brick tints in the colour and a porty touch on the nose with the varnish notes more prominent than before but with most of the elements noted in the 2009 bottle disappeared behind a gentle sweetness of dried fruit. Likewise the palate was that of a wine on the reverse slope of maturity with sweetness of dried fruit being the dominant theme and most of the vigour forgotten. It still has a distinction which a lot of warm climate Syrah/Shiraz lacks and is an agreeable drink. I have one bottle left and hope that this premature evolution is a single bottle phenomenon; but I don’t count on it; 15.5/20.