One of the wines of the vintage is Voge’s 2005 Cornas Les Vieilles Fontaines. Coming from a single plot of granite soils, this inky colored beauty offers incredible purity in its plum, blackberry, licorice and violet-laced aromas and flavors. Showing more and more minerality with time in the glass, this full-bodied, rich, thrillingly concentrated Cornas is reminiscent of the 2010 with its notable freshness, building tannin and blockbuster length. It will have 20-25 years of longevity.

A tiny cuvee of the finest wine, the Cornas Vieilles Fontaines spends more time in small casks, 15-20% of which are new. A candidate for the Cornas of the vintage, the 2005 Cornas Vieilles Fontaines reveals some new oak along with copious quantities of blackberries, spicy figs, and truffles. With huge body, high tannin, and a marvelous finish, it should be at its finest between 2011-2027. Consistently one of the top estates in Cornas, Alain Voge, who survived a liver transplant in 1998, is now partnered with the brilliant oenologist who worked for Michel Chapoutier, Alberic Mazoyer. In fact, Chapoutier is one of Voge’s investors. Alain Voge, who owns nearly 18 acres in Cornas, with some fabulous old vine parcels in Chaillot and Combe, also has 15 acres in St.-Peray, where he fashions one of that appellation’s finest dry whites, the Chablis look-alike called Fleur de Crussol. I was struck by how successful all of the following offerings were.Importer: New Castle Imports, Pawley’s Island, SC; tel. (843) 448-9463

Plush, with a modern touch of mocha and incense leading the way for thickly layered plum sauce, tobacco, fig paste and licorice notes. The long, mouthfilling finish pumps out fruit and mineral notes thanks to riveting acidity. Best from 2009 through 2023. 50 cases imported.??–JM??Region: France / Northern Rh?ne / Cornas Select to Add