Cornas Les Ruchets

Cornas Les Ruchets

  • Cornas AOC, 
  • Rhône, 
  • france

Latest Awards

  • 94 points Cellar Selection Wine Enthusiast , December 2023
  • 94 points #95 Top 100 Wines of 2023 Wine Spectator , April 2023
Background

Jean-Luc Colombo has been a renowned enologist in the Rhône Valley since the early 1980s. His consultations at prestigious estates across the Rhône quickly earned him a reputation for helping produce incredible expressions of this rugged terroir. But his greatest contribution to the wine world is the exceptional wines he crafts alongside his wife, Anne, and daughter, Laure. The Cornas-based Colombo winery has earned impressive international recognition bringing modern viticultural practices to the region — and for creating beautifully concentrated, balanced, and fresh styles of syrah. Living among their vineyards and wetlands, the family have been committed to sustainable farming, achieving organic certification for their estate vineyards from Ecocert in 2016.

TERROIR & VINTAGE NOTES

The heart of the Colombo winery is based in Cornas, one of the smallest appellations in the Rhône Valley with 375 acres. Cornas, the birthplace of Syrah, has 300 million year old decomposed granite subsoils and dry-farmed vineyards, as irrigation is not permitted. Maximum yields are 34 hl/ha. Les Ruchets (The Beehives) is Colombo’s icon wine with his first release in 1987. Les Ruchets is a single vineyard of 5.4 acres within Chaillot designation, with vines that average 90 years old, 38° slope, and a yield of 17 hl/ha. The vineyard has been certified organic by Ecocert since 2016

Winemaking & Aging

Grapes are hand-harvested and de-stemmed. Fermentation takes places in stainless steel tanks; 30-day maceration. The wine is aged for 22 months in oak barrels, 15% in new, 85% in one- to three-year-old oak barrels. The wine is bottled unfiltered and is vegan.

Tasting Notes

A very expressive but fine nose with aromas of Provençal herbs such as thyme and rosemary. The palate is structured with flavors of ripe dark fruits such as blackberry but it also shows some kind of freshness thanks to menthol notes.

96
Points

Inky violet color. Vibrant, smoke-tinged cherry and blackberry aromas are complemented by suggestions of black pepper, olive and licorice. Broad and energetic in the mouth, offering appealingly sweet and concentrated black and blue fruit, cola and spicecake flavors that steadily deepen through the back half. Delivers a solid, smoky punch on a strikingly long, smooth finish that's framed by smooth, well-knit tannins. Made from vines that are pushing 100 years of age; 20% new oak. -J.R.

Vinous - December 2022

95
Points

Opaque ruby. Smoke- and spice-accented aromas of ripe dark berries and pungent flowers pick up vanilla and licorice nuances as the wine opens up. Plush, smoke- and spice-accented cassis and blackberry flavors stain the palate and are braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Becomes sweeter with air and shows a hint of cola on the wonderfully long, smoky finish, which features broad tannins and lingering florality. This fruit is sourced from a plot within the prime Chaillot lieu-dit. -J.R.

Vinous - December 2022

95-96
Points

Brimming with ripe forest-berry aromas, but also notes of smoked bacon and wild herbs, this is a stunning Cornas that's highly structured with a very concentrated core, but also bright and elegant, major stony minerality driving the long, very focused finish.– J.S.

James Suckling - April 2022

95
Points

I was impressed by the quality of the 2019 Cornas les Ruchets, which stands out for its concentration, richness and velvety texture. Full-bodied, it delivers layers of mulberry fruit and is tinged with hints of dark chocolate, black olives and licorice, yet offers a succulent, mouthwatering finish. - J.C.

Wine Advocate - January 2022

94
Points
#95 Top 100 Wines of 2023

Sleek and polished, with a bold cascade of blackberry confit, singed garrigue and warm fig, this is delicious and opulent yet powered by a savory undercurrent. Offers charred cedar that adds depth and roundness to the palate, while the pull of salt and crushed iron offsets the silky, dense character. This has staying power. Best from 2025 through 2032. —K.B.

Wine Spectator - April 2023

94
Points

This rolls through slowly but surely and is packed with dark currant and fig paste flavors, with dark olive, singed bay leaf and worn leather accents filling in through the finish, where a smoldering cast iron note can be found. Best from 2025 through 2040. —J.M.

Wine Spectator - February 2022

94
Points

The bright red-fruit aromas of this beautifully elegant Cornas leap out of the glass at you. Somehow, a very suave and sensual wine has been crafted without sacrificing any of the meaty power of this appellation. The secret to this lies in the fine-grained tannins that drive the long, velvety finish. From organically grown grapes. Delicious now, but also excellent aging potential. Drink or hold. – J.S.

James Suckling - April 2022

94
Points
Cellar Selection

A captivating bouquet of purple flowers welcomes the nose on a journey through an overgrown botanical garden down the path to a dewy forest. The palate is complex, with mulled plums and fresh blackberries, roasted meat and clove, with a light sprinkling of green peppercorn. A stunning wine to enjoy in its youth or cellar through 2035 and beyond. —A.C.C.

Wine Enthusiast - December 2023

92
Points

Les Ruchets was planted nearly 100 years ago on an east-facing granite slope. That cool exposure shows in this wine’s fine balance of juicy black-cherry fruit against firm, savory notes of black earth and plum skins. It’s chewy and dense, with an overlay of oak that suggests this is best cellared for a few years. – T.T.

Wine & Spirits - February 2022

91-93
Points

The 2020 Cornas les Ruchets shows less oak than I remember from previous vintages, featuring sappy, red-toned fruit on the nose. It's medium to full-bodied, silky—not chunky or beefy—with a long, refined finish. – J.C.

Wine Advocate - January 2022

Appellation

Cornas AOC

grape varieties

100% Syrah

Sizes

750ml

technical details
  • ABV: 14.5%
  • Closure: Cork
winemaker

Jean-Luc Colombo

Jean-Luc Colombo

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