Cornas Vallon de I’Aigle

Notes of charred earth, salt and iron collide with piercing blackberry and plum in this opulent yet sharply filigreed Syrah. The producer’s flagship Cornas, this bottling is made only in outstanding vintages from the free-run juice of low-yielding 70-year-old vines. Glossy and rich yet weightless and airy, it’s delicious in youth but has decades of evolution ahead. Drink through 2040. Taub Family Selections. Editors’ Choice. —A.I.

Wine Enthusiast - October 2021

Opaque violet color. Intensely perfumed, dark berry preserve, smoky mineral and exotic spice aromas show excellent definition and floral lift. Offers alluringly sweet, palate-staining blackberry, cherry-cola, spicecake, olive paste and floral pastille flavors that deepen slowly with air and pick up a licorice note on the back half. Rich but energetic as well, finishing very long and precise, with a youthfully tannic grip, firm cut and resonating florality. -J.R.

Vinous - December 2022

Not bottled every vintage, the 2018 Cornas Vallon de l'Aigle looks worthy of the name. From a single parcel of old, south-facing vines, it seamlessly marries herbal nuances of mint and licorice with dark berries and grilled beef into a harmonious, savory bouquet. Full-bodied but fresh and silky, it's deceptively easy to drink. It finishes long with a dusting of cedar and crushed stone.

Wine Advocate - May 2021

Quite rich, with layers of warmed açaí and blueberry reduction rolling through, laced with dark olive, tobacco and sweet bay notes. A tarry edge rumbles on the finish, giving this a very grippy feel. Cellaring required, but it's all there. Best from 2025 through 2038. 75 cases made, 60 cases imported. — JM

Wine Spectator - June 2021

Powerful aromas of ripe black/blue fruits, candied flowers, olive paste and exotic spices are sharpened by a building mineral nuance. Densely packed and energetic on the palate, offering bitter cherry, blueberry, licorice and fruitcake flavors that unfurl slowly with air and take on a subtle cola note. The blue fruit note drives a strikingly long, floral-accented finish that's given grip by fine-grained, steadily building tannins. - J.R.

Vinous - March 2020

The Colombos make this cuvée only when they consider the fruit in this .74-acre parcel to be outstanding. It comes from their highest-altitude plot, the vines 70 years old and extremely low-producing. Their concentration reads clearly in this 2018, which is as meaty as a thick-cut steak. It’s all about black fruit and dark earth, chocolate tannins and fresh black-pepper spice, the flavors deepened and sweetened by the caramel tones of new oak. Give it time in the cellar for the oak to recede and the gamey aspects of the fruit to come up; then pour with a well-charred, dry-aged steak.

Wine & Spirits - February 2021