Noel Verset, Cornas 1998

1.5cm

98 Points CellarTracker

Absolutely stellar syrah. The nose is all blood and smoke and brine, the way syrah ought to be. It is delicate and perfumed, but at the same time feral and wild (but perhaps slightly acclimated to human contact). On the palate, this has a surprising delicacy for all the feral qualities. The fruit is overlaid on all of this; it's sweet and ripe, showing more secondary than primary, as perhaps expected, and providing a sweet foil to all the savoury elements. The acidity doesn't play much of a role here, and the tannins are resolved, fine-grained, and very silky. Very much ready to drink now, and very much in line with a 2000 that I had last year. 1/18/2024

Noël Verset’s 1998 Cornas is a brilliant example of the vintage. Upon release, the 1999 vintage in the northern Rhône had a slightly higher reputation than the 1998s, but the Verset ’98 is clearly a small step up from his lovely 1999. The bouquet is deep and brilliant, as it soars from the glass in a blaze of black raspberries, dark berries, pepper, a touch of shoe polish, great stony minerality and a pungent topnote of violets. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very, very pure, with great focus and refinement, ripe tannins, tangy acids and great length and grip on the complex and still fairly primary finish. This is one of the finest young vintage’s of Monsieur Verset’s Cornas that I have had the pleasure to taste. (5/2009

Verset's 1998 Cornas displays complex redcurrant, cherry pit, violet and spicecake scents, with deeper olive and licorice nuances sneaking up as the wine opens. Lively and sharply focused, it offers spicy red fruit and floral flavors that are underscored by building minerality. It's bright, focused and spicy on the finish, which echoes the floral and spice notes. Anybody who thinks that Cornas can't be elegant really owes it to themselves to try this wine, if they can get their hands on a bottle at this point. (JR)  (1/2015)

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