Tardieu Laurent : Cornas "Vieilles Vignes" 2024

Characteristics and Tasting Notes of the Cornas "Vieilles Vignes" 2024 Tardieu Laurent

Tasting

Colour
With beautiful intensity, the visual reveals a deep red colour.

Nose
The aromatic bouquet is complex and fragrant, revealing notes of black cherries, blueberries and redcurrants, enhanced by touches of violet, grilled meat and sweet spices.

Palate
Full-bodied and concentrated, the palate offers a well-structured frame supported by velvety tannins. It reveals beautiful maturity and great depth, perfectly reflecting the natural expression of the old vines.

Food and wine pairing

This red wine pairs wonderfully with flavourful meats such as lamb navarin, game (wild boar, venison, duck) or a beef daube. It also goes very well with spicy dishes, aged hard cheeses (comté, gruyère) or blue cheeses (roquefort), as well as desserts featuring dark chocolate or dark berries.

Serving and storage

For optimal tasting, it is recommended to serve this wine at a temperature of 16°C, taking care to decant it an hour before serving if enjoyed while young. With significant aging potential, it requires at least fifteen years of cellaring to fully open up and can evolve in the cellar for approximately thirty to fifty years.

Other characteristics

This wine has an alcohol content of 14%. Hand-bottled without fining or filtration, it preserves all its textural and aromatic richness, which may result in the formation of a slight natural sediment over time.

The power and complexity of a wine from the Rhône Valley crafted by Tardieu Laurent

The estate

Founded in 1996 by Michel Tardieu, the House of Tardieu Laurent is a renowned micro-négociant based in Lourmarin, in Provence. Specialising in the selection of old vines from the finest Rhône appellations, the estate is now entirely owned and run by the Tardieu family. Michel, his wife Michèle, and their children Bastien (winemaker) and Camille, uphold a demanding philosophy centred on elegance, respect for terroir and meticulous aging to produce wines of great precision.

The vineyard

This wine comes from two historic and prestigious plots within the Cornas appellation: Les Eygats and Patou de Pleins Coteaux. Planted on steep slopes with soils dominated by decomposed granite (known as "gores"), these vines range from eighty to over one hundred years old. Their deep roots draw on the mineral richness of the terroir, benefiting from a Mediterranean-influenced climate and protection from northern winds by the Arlettes massif.

The vintage

The year 2024 was marked by contrasting weather conditions. After periods of intense heat in August, the vineyard experienced significant rainfall in early September. These fluctuations required great precision during the harvest to pick berries at optimal ripeness, ultimately delivering remarkable balance.

Winemaking and aging

For this Cornas "Vieilles Vignes" 2024, 50% of the harvest is destemmed, while the other half is vinified as whole clusters to add structure. Aging spans twenty-four months in total. The wine first rests for twelve months in French oak barrels (both new and one-wine) sourced from the forests of Allier and Tronçais. It is then transferred to 228-litre foudres for an additional year, allowing for harmonious integration of the wood.

Grape variety

Syrah (100%).