2019 Matthieu Barret Cornas Brise Cailloux

2019 Matthieu Barret Cornas Brise Cailloux

2019 Matthieu Barret Cornas Brise Cailloux, Red wine from Cornas, France.

The Cornas Brise Cailloux is a blend of young and old vines spread over the whole area except the summit and the foot of the hillside. Ageing lasts about 18 months in 500 litre barrels and in ovoid-shaped concrete vats to encourage a creamy, fruity wine. The result is a fruity and peppery red wine with violet notes. The palate brings depth, delicacy and concentration, with wonderful freshness and fine tannins. It is a more affordable Cornas when young than classical Cornas wines with ageing potential of 10 to 15 years.

Brise Cailloux comes from 50 micro parcels growing on decomposed granite. This is the largest cuvée of 7ha represented of 11ha of Cornas in total. There is no mechanical processing, everything is done by hand or with horsepower.

The young winemaker Matthieu Barret works with great enthusiasm and energy. The 18 hectares family domaine is planted to Syrah, and other varieties, from which Matthieu makes Cornas and Côtes-du-Rhône. His respect for the environment has earned him biodynamic and organic certification since the early 2000s, a fairly common practice in this region. In the cave, Barret tries to intervene as little as possible to let the wine reflect its terroir and vintage. As Barret says himself “the will to reveal a wine’s identity is at the basis of our work”. 2006 marked the release of a new type of wine. Since then, maturation has taken place, in part, in cement egg shaped vats in order to enhance the freshness and fruit present in the wine. This domaine offers three excellent interpretations of Cornas in its three cuvées Brise Cailloux, Les Terrasses du Serre and Billes Noires. The other wines are known for their finesse, freshness and elegance.