Alain Verset is among the most venerated names in the history of Cornas, the small northern Rhône appellation where 100% Syrah grown on fractured granite and schist soils produces wines of formidable structure, depth and longevity. Verset farmed his vines in Cornas for decades, producing wines of extraordinary concentration and individuality from ancient plots that included some of the oldest Syrah vines in the appellation. His name became known internationally primarily through the advocacy of specialists in natural and artisan winemaking who recognised the purity and site honesty of his wines at a time when Cornas was considered a secondary appellation to Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. Production was extremely small, and his wines passed through very few hands before reaching collectors who sought them out directly.

Cornas takes its name from a Gaulish word meaning ‘burnt earth,’ a reference to the heat reflected from the granite terraces above the town. The appellation covers a steep amphitheatre of southerly-facing terraced vineyards carved directly from decomposed granite and gneiss, producing Syrah of a character entirely distinct from the softer, more opulent wines of the southern Rhône. Verset’s vineyards within Cornas represented some of the finest plots in the appellation, including old vine parcels whose low natural yields and deep root systems produced concentrated, mineral-edged Syrah of outstanding age-worthiness. The 2021 Cornas vintage was shaped by cool, wet conditions early in the season followed by a warmer, drier late summer that produced wines of excellent freshness and aromatic precision.

Alain Verset has become a reference point not only for Cornas collectors but for all those who follow the evolution of French natural and minimal-intervention winemaking with serious attention. His wines appear rarely at auction and in specialist wine lists, and their secondary market values reflect both the scarcity of production and the strong critical and collector consensus about their quality. The 2021, produced from old vines on Cornas’s finest granite terraces, represents one of the appellation’s most compelling expressions from a vintage that is increasingly regarded as among the finest of the past decade for structured northern Rhône Syrah.

Deep ruby-purple with a focused, mineral nose of black olive, dark cherry, cracked black pepper, iron, smoked meat, violet and the distinctive granite-edged minerality of old-vine Cornas Syrah. Full-bodied on the palate with firm, concentrated tannins, excellent natural acidity and an extraordinarily long, savoury, mineral finish. Requires patience; best from 2028 through 2045.