Winery Vicomte Bernard de RomanetLa Clape

Some Cornas estates, like Domaine Clape, feel as ancient and unchanging as the granite hills themselves. Others, like Domaine Alain Voge, go through periods of flux. When this is due to vineyards being ripped out, bought or sold, then the whole profile of an estate can be altered. That’s not the case at Voge. Instead, it’s due to the coming and going of people and the unavoidable change that entails. I visited Lionel Fraisse, the current managing director at Domaine Alain Voge, to taste a select ...

This was the first year that Pierre Clape, of Domaine Clape, had witnessed frost on the slopes of Cornas; from these parcels he lost 40% of his crop. On the flat, however, it was much worse – here he lost 90%. Like almost everybody else, he had to raise alcohol levels – here by adding concentrated must – to achieve 12% alcohol. The last time they had to do this was in 2008. Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for top-scoring Cornas & St-Péray 2021 wines See all 400 Rhône 2021 tasting ...

‘Platinum is very hard-fought’ says co-chair Sarah Jane Evans MW. ‘It’s like something in the Premier League’, she adds, ‘but getting there means it’s going to be something special.’ The Decanter World Wine Awards judging process for Platinum begins after a meticulous first round of tasting, where all entries – this year a record 18,250 – are examined by regional specialists to determine Bronze, Silver, Gold or no award. All wines awarded 95 points (a Gold med ...