Cornas 8 products.

The most austere and mineral of all the northern Rhône appellations, this small enclave produces pure Syrah on steep, terraced granite slopes — no co-fermented Viognier is permitted here, unlike at neighbouring appellations to the north. The result is wine of remarkable concentration and grip: dark-fruited, smoky, and firmly tannic, built for the long term and capable of ageing for two decades or more without losing identity.

Producers such as Auguste Clape, Thierry Allemand, and Alain Voge have elevated the appellation's reputation significantly since the 1980s. Patience is essential: young examples can be forbidding, but the combination of granite-driven minerality and the intensity of a single variety makes this one of France's most compelling and under-appreciated reds.