You Want this Wine: Vincent Paris's Granit 30 Cornas
Cornas is a tiny world, and if you take the plunge into Northern Rhône geekdom – we highly recommend it! – you will have things figured out pretty quickly. One thing you’ll notice is that a lot of the players are related to each other. Vincent Paris, the subject of today’s article, turns out to be the nephew of Robert Michel, a member of the Cornas holy trinity along with Clape and Verset.
Vincent actually learned to make wine from his uncle and even inherited some of his prized holdings in Geynale. You can see the effects in Vincent’s disdain for oaky flavors and other flashy international flourishes. He is a traditionalist at heart. But that doesn’t mean that he shies away from changes here and there. For one thing, he lowered sulphur levels. More importantly for us today, he decided to supplement his grand wines with Cornas that is easier going, more drinkable.
And so he invented Granit 30. 'Granit', of course, means 'granite', the rock that is the key to great Northern Rhône Syrah. And '30' references the grade of the slope on which his vines are planted. No, not as steep as his “Granit 60”, but still steep.
Unlike any of Michel’s wines, the Granit 30 is a Cornas you can drink on release. In fact, it is so irresistibly tasty that you will very much want to drink it on release, and then open another bottle soon after. The great Northern Rhône writer John Livingstone-Learmonth captured this concept well by designating the 2018 Granit 30 a “WOW” wine, his highly technical term that means a “Wine One Wants”. Because as great as a 30 year-old bottle of Robert Michel Geynale can be, it’s not normally the wine you want to just open up on the spur of the moment to start drinking. That’s what Granit 30 is for. One wants it.
We sold this wine in this newsletter until about five years ago, and then our allocations got too small. This year – and what a year, with the amazing 2019s – we’ve scraped together just enough quantity to offer it out again. One wants it, and you want it, so take advantage with today’s discount:
Vincent Paris, Cornas “Granit 30”, 2019
Josh Raynolds (Vinous): “Mineral-driven aromas of ripe black/blue fruits, peony, olive and exotic spices on the nose. Sappy and focused on the palate, offering gently sweet, mineral-kissed cherry and blueberry flavors that deepen slowly with air and show sharp delineation. The blue fruit note drives an impressively long, spicy finish that's given subtle grip by fine-grained, even tannins.”
Vincent actually learned to make wine from his uncle and even inherited some of his prized holdings in Geynale. You can see the effects in Vincent’s disdain for oaky flavors and other flashy international flourishes. He is a traditionalist at heart. But that doesn’t mean that he shies away from changes here and there. For one thing, he lowered sulphur levels. More importantly for us today, he decided to supplement his grand wines with Cornas that is easier going, more drinkable.
And so he invented Granit 30. 'Granit', of course, means 'granite', the rock that is the key to great Northern Rhône Syrah. And '30' references the grade of the slope on which his vines are planted. No, not as steep as his “Granit 60”, but still steep.
Unlike any of Michel’s wines, the Granit 30 is a Cornas you can drink on release. In fact, it is so irresistibly tasty that you will very much want to drink it on release, and then open another bottle soon after. The great Northern Rhône writer John Livingstone-Learmonth captured this concept well by designating the 2018 Granit 30 a “WOW” wine, his highly technical term that means a “Wine One Wants”. Because as great as a 30 year-old bottle of Robert Michel Geynale can be, it’s not normally the wine you want to just open up on the spur of the moment to start drinking. That’s what Granit 30 is for. One wants it.
We sold this wine in this newsletter until about five years ago, and then our allocations got too small. This year – and what a year, with the amazing 2019s – we’ve scraped together just enough quantity to offer it out again. One wants it, and you want it, so take advantage with today’s discount:
Vincent Paris, Cornas “Granit 30”, 2019
Josh Raynolds (Vinous): “Mineral-driven aromas of ripe black/blue fruits, peony, olive and exotic spices on the nose. Sappy and focused on the palate, offering gently sweet, mineral-kissed cherry and blueberry flavors that deepen slowly with air and show sharp delineation. The blue fruit note drives an impressively long, spicy finish that's given subtle grip by fine-grained, even tannins.”
