2016 Guy Farge "Harmonie" Cornas

Brilliant magenta. Ripe blackberry, olive and cracked pepper on the deeply perfumed nose. Lively, spice-accented black and blue fruit flavors are complicated by an earthy quality and a hint of candied violet. Closes sappy, sweet and long, with fine-grained tannins adding shape and gentle grip. (JR)

Staring down from the top of the hill of Les Reynardes is quite a site. My vertigo kicks in, just reminiscing about it. Sitting on one side lies the vineyards of master of Cornas - August Clape and the other is cultiest Rhone winemaker Thierry Allemand. Right down the middle is the hard scrabble decomposing granite slope of Guy Farge. The real estate is breathtaking, nearly warranting a rope and pulley system to harvest. At the very least some really good hiking boots. Even more overwhelming is the quality of the wine Farge is making from this site. We were originally drawn to this producer because of his top tier Saint-Joseph wines that are now beginning to fall on the radar of top wine critics, but what made us stay is the Cornas. It is deep, rich and sauvage but with wonderful underlying acidity. The 2016 vintage provides more up front fruit now but the savory spices keep coming through and the promise of smoky meaty qualities-to-come are ever present. This is sexy now with fatty braised cuts. A smoked brisket or some lambs shanks would certainly not disappoint. But this is surely worthy of a little cellar time if you are so inclined.