Domaine du Tunnel (Stéphane Robert)
Pur Noir Cornas Syrah
Cornas, Northern Rhône, Rhône, France
The nose is intensely ripe and liqueur-like, with kirsch, cassis, blackberry and other dark fruit, along with spice, potpourri, leather, graphite and camphor. There is a polished, expensive-smelling quality to it, but everything feels blurred and overworked rather than focused. The palate is concentrated, juicy and very long, with big tannins and plenty of material, but the alcohol sticks out everywhere and the ripeness keeps pushing the wine out of balance. It tastes expensive, but at the moment that feels more like a facade than substance. I’m absolutely willing to let this improve with air, especially given the wine’s reputation, but right now 8.8 is where it is.
With more air, this has improved from 8.8 to 9.1. The nose is still remarkably blasé and unfocused, basically generic red-wine aromatics without much identity or finesse. The palate has come together considerably, with less obvious heat, better balance, good freshness, serious length and massive tiny-berry fruit concentration. Still highly extracted and overdone, with enormous material but essentially zero finesse, yet at least now it feels like a coherent wine rather than a complete mess.
The nose is intensely ripe and liqueur-like, with kirsch, cassis, blackberry and other dark fruit, along with spice, potpourri, leather, graphite and camphor. There is a polished, expensive-smelling quality to it, but everything feels blurred and overworked rather than focused. The palate is concentrated, juicy and very long, with big tannins and plenty of material, but the alcohol sticks out everywhere and the ripeness keeps pushing the wine out of balance. It tastes expensive, but at the moment that feels more like a facade than substance. I’m absolutely willing to let this improve with air, especially given the wine’s reputation, but right now 8.8 is where it is.
With more air, this has improved from 8.8 to 9.1. The nose is still remarkably blasé and unfocused, basically generic red-wine aromatics without much identity or finesse. The palate has come together considerably, with less obvious heat, better balance, good freshness, serious length and massive tiny-berry fruit concentration. Still highly extracted and overdone, with enormous material but essentially zero finesse, yet at least now it feels like a coherent wine rather than a complete mess.