On Sale Now
Among the excellent villages producing Syrah wines in the Northern Rhone, Cornas provides the goldilocks of reds: not as rustic as Crozes, not as polished as Hermitage, and not as elegant as Côte Rôtie, but instead a glorious middle-ground between all three.
Here we find one of our favorite Syrah producers: Domaine Durand. The brothers Eric and Joël craft wines in a sweet spot, combining elegance, drinkability, and age-worthiness. Delivering ripe fruit, savory minerality and lifted aromatics, the meticulous work by these brothers is evident from first pour. Never hyper glossy or overly rustic, these epitomize Cornas in all the ways we love.
The estate owns select parcels throughout Cornas. The plots are steeply terraced and worked exclusively by hand. The parcels are composed of mostly old-vines that thrive even in ripe vintages, such as the recent trio of 2018, 2019, and 2020.
From Cornas, the brothers produce three wines from just shy of 24 acres: the Prémices, Empreintes, and Confidence. Prémices is sourced from the youngest vines that produce velvety wines full of fruits and spices. Empreintes is a bottling of plots with granite soils from throughout Cornas. The wines offer powerful aromatics and a tightly tannic core. Worthy of a hearty decant, these wines will cellar well for over a decade. The top bottling on offer is the Confidence, crafted from vines at least thirty-years-old. This is the most complex and concentrated of wines, offering up dark fruit, spice, and mineral aromatics. Powerful, this wine could cellar for quite some time but is rewarding in its youth with grippy tannins that beg to be paired with winter braises and fatty meats.
We’ve adored this estate and stocked up on their wines over several vintages because we know you’ll love them, too. So, stock up during our sale and enjoy the wines for years to come.
Here we find one of our favorite Syrah producers: Domaine Durand. The brothers Eric and Joël craft wines in a sweet spot, combining elegance, drinkability, and age-worthiness. Delivering ripe fruit, savory minerality and lifted aromatics, the meticulous work by these brothers is evident from first pour. Never hyper glossy or overly rustic, these epitomize Cornas in all the ways we love.
The estate owns select parcels throughout Cornas. The plots are steeply terraced and worked exclusively by hand. The parcels are composed of mostly old-vines that thrive even in ripe vintages, such as the recent trio of 2018, 2019, and 2020.
From Cornas, the brothers produce three wines from just shy of 24 acres: the Prémices, Empreintes, and Confidence. Prémices is sourced from the youngest vines that produce velvety wines full of fruits and spices. Empreintes is a bottling of plots with granite soils from throughout Cornas. The wines offer powerful aromatics and a tightly tannic core. Worthy of a hearty decant, these wines will cellar well for over a decade. The top bottling on offer is the Confidence, crafted from vines at least thirty-years-old. This is the most complex and concentrated of wines, offering up dark fruit, spice, and mineral aromatics. Powerful, this wine could cellar for quite some time but is rewarding in its youth with grippy tannins that beg to be paired with winter braises and fatty meats.
We’ve adored this estate and stocked up on their wines over several vintages because we know you’ll love them, too. So, stock up during our sale and enjoy the wines for years to come.
5% off any 6-11 in-stock bottles of Cornas
10% off any 12 or more in-stock bottles of Cornas
Discount will not display online or in your cart,
We will adjust your invoice before processing your charge.
Sale ends Saturday, March 23rd at 9 am Pacific.
10% off any 12 or more in-stock bottles of Cornas
Discount will not display online or in your cart,
We will adjust your invoice before processing your charge.
Sale ends Saturday, March 23rd at 9 am Pacific.
In Stock and On Sale Now from Cornas:
Domaine Courbis Cornas Les Eygats 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $69, that’s $65.55 at 5% off and $62.10 at 10% off, 17 bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “The 2016 Cornas Les Eygats is the gem in 2016 and has a fresh, focused, backward style that carries notes of crème de cassis, spring flowers, pepper, and crushed rocks. With full-bodied richness, good acidity, and impeccable balance, it’s a brilliant wine, but it’s going to need 2-3 years of bottle age to show its full potential.”
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 94 points “Brilliant magenta. Powerful, mineral-accented boysenberry, cherry preserve, violet and olive aromas are complemented by a smoky mineral nuance that builds in the glass. Palate-staining dark berry, licorice and bitter chocolate flavors pick up notes of candied flowers, vanilla and smoky minerals on the back half. Powerful but surprisingly lithe in style, finishing extremely long, with sharp delineation and gently gripping tannins that emerge slowly.”
This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
Delas Freres Cornas Chante Perdrix 2019 750ml Displayed Price: $69, that’s $65.55 at 5% off and $62.10 at 10% off, 34 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 93 points “A core of juicy red currant and bitter plum pāte de fruit flavors is brought into nice focus by a racy, chalk-edged structure and an iron spine, while subtle savory and dark olive accents dart in the background. Best from 2022 through 2034. 1,083 cases made, 60 cases imported. –JM”
Josh Raynolds-Vinous 92-94 points “Powerful, mineral- and spice-accented aromas of ripe black/blue fruits, candied flowers, olive and allspice. Supple and energetic on the palate, offering bitter cherry, blueberry and fruitcake flavors that tighten up slowly with air and show fine delineation. The cherry note drives a long, spicy finish that’s given shape by fine-grained, even tannins. There’s a quite graceful quality here that defies the old stereotype of Cornas being necessarily rustic.”
Decanter 92 points “Intense on the nose, a touch of char and cola. Very full-bodied, but there is some inner freshness and acidity. Tannins are plentiful, very ripe. It’s very bold and modern, very ripe. Good for the vintage. Drinking Window 2022 – 2029.”
This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
Domaine du Tunnel Cornas 2018 750ml Displayed Price: $69, that’s $65.55 at 5% off and $62.10 at 10% off, 18 bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 95-97 points “Readers looking for the essence of Cornas would do well to pick up a case of the 2018 Cornas. Deep purple, with a heavenly bouquet of blueberries, raspberries, crushed violets, olives, ground pepper, and gamey meats, this beauty hits the palate with full-bodied richness, a balanced, classy texture, building yet polished tannins, and a great finish. It’s a winner.”
This is the only listing in the USA today!
Domaine Lionnet Cornas Terre Brûlée 2019 750ml Displayed Price: $69, that’s $65.55 at 5% off and $62.10 at 10% off, 20 bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “The 2019 Cornas Terre Brûlée showed brilliantly, with an exotic style in its darker fruits as well as notes of camphor, balsam wood, plums, and ground pepper. It has tons of minerality on the palate and is full-bodied, concentrated, and powerful, with enough tannins to warrant a solid 5-7 years of bottle age. It’s a beautiful, classic, impeccably made Cornas that will have two decades of longevity.”
Vinous 94-96 points “Suave, mineral-accented blackberry, cassis, cherry compote and exotic spice qualities on the intensely perfumed nose, along with a slowly emerging floral nuance. Sappy and penetrating on the palate, displaying powerful lift to the concentrated black and blue fruit, floral pastille and spicecake flavors. Finishes extremely long and spicy, with pronounced mineral thrust, a hint of smoky bacon and gently chewy, well-knit tannins.”
Domaine Guillaume Gilles Cornas 2018 750ml Displayed Price: $108, that’s $102.60 at 5% off and $97.20 at 10% off, 27 bottles in stock now
Rosenthal Wine note “Cornas: This is the grand wine of this tiny domaine. The vines are situation on the higher slopes of the Chaillot vineyard. The “terroir” is more complex here with a mixture of soil types and expositions. There are terraces of pure granite that are oriented east – southeast; then, these are supplemented by terraces that sit on a clay-limestone base that have a full southern exposure. The grapes are never destemmed, the cuvaison is long (30 days) and the elevage is in demi-muids for eighteen months. As with the other wines of the domaine, this wine is neither fined nor filtered.”
“One of my favorite estates in Cornas (although the domaine is in Châteaubourg), Domaine Durand is run with incredible talent and passion by Eric and Joël Durand… These are terrific wines that offer pleasure in their youth yet also age gracefully… The brothers took over the estate in 1991, and while the winemaking is relatively modern, these are classic, pure, beautifully made wines that speak clearly to their region and terroir.” – Jeb Dunnuck
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Confidence 2018 750ml Displayed Price: $59, that’s $56.05 at 5% off and $53.10 at 10% off, 34 bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “One of my favorite Cornas, the 2018 Cornas Confidence comes from pure granite soils and was partially destemmed and brought up in 30% new French oak. The 2018 is a head-turner, revealing a dense purple color as well as sensational notes of crème de cassis, smoked bacon, graphite, bouquet garni, and liquid rock-like minerality. Rich, full-bodied, and opulent, with sweet tannins, this is one sexy Cornas that’s going to benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age and cruise for 10-15 years in cold cellars.”
Joe Czerwinski-Wine Advocate 94 points “From the family’s mature vines (average of 30 years old) on granitic sites, the 2018 Cornas Confidence matured in 30% new oak, yet that has been “soaked up” by the wine to the point that nearly no cedar notes are discernible. Instead, there are scents of crushed stone, dark plum and dusty earth. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it’s concentrated and tannic but not unapproachable, with a silky, lingering finish and a sprinkling of ground pepper and aniseed.”
This is the only listing in the USA today!
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Confidence 2019 750ml Displayed Price: $59, that’s $56.05 at 5% off and $53.10 at 10% off, 35 bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 97 points “Lastly, the 2019 Cornas Confidence is all Syrah that was 70% destemmed and spent 18 months in 30% new barrels. A classic wine from this estate, it brings tons of richness and depth in a pure, clean, quasi-modern style while still being pure Cornas to the core. Dark fruits, ground pepper, game, violets, and spice all give way to a full-bodied, wonderfully textured, balanced 2019 with the texture and balance to offer pleasure today yet also evolve for two decades.”
Joe Czerwinski-Wine Advocate 95 points “The 2019 Cornas Confidence shows a bit of toasty oak up front (30% new wood is standard for this cuvée), then develops notes of crushed stone, red plums, mint, violets, cassis and raspberry sherbet. Full-bodied, velvety and long, it’s an intense, complex thrill ride of Cornas that just needs several years in the cellar. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes.”
Wine Spectator 95 points “Rich and juicy, particularly for Cornas, with waves of red currant and blackberry compote rolling through. There’s more defining chalk, savory and olive accents on the back end and a singed alder frame around it all. Needs a bit of time to finish knitting together, but this is very, very solid. Best from 2023 through 2036. 150 cases made, 50 cases imported. — JM”
This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Empreintes 2016 750ml Displayed Price: $54.50, that’s $51.78 at 5% off and $49.05 at 10% off, 3 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 95 points “Ripe and focused, with mouthwatering acidity driving the core of steeped red currant, raspberry and blackberry fruit along. A bright iron note zings through the finish, pulling in light anise, savory and sanguine hints. Best from 2020 through 2035.”
Jeb Dunnuck 95 points “Deep purple-colored, the 2016 Cornas Empreintes is a smoking good effort. Blackberries, plums, cured meats, pepper, and earthy notes all flow from this rounded, sexy, powerful Cornas that has beautiful mid-palate depth and density as well as a great finish. Drink this smoking good 2016 any time over the coming decade.”
Wine Advocate 95 points “The 2016 Cornas Empreintes features hints of cedar, brown sugar and dried spices layered over its plummy fruit (it was aged in 20% new oak, with the bulk in older wood). Full-bodied, supple and ripe, it’s charming but with more stuffing than that word suggests, showing ample concentration and soft, dusty tannins on the long finish. It’s a terrific Cornas to drink over the next 10-12 years.”-JC
This is the lowest listed price in the USA today!
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Empreintes 2017 1.5L Displayed Price: $89, that’s $84.55 at 5% off and $80.10 at 10% off, 1 magnum in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 95 points “One of the flagship releases is the 2017 Cornas Empreintes, which comes from the steep, granite hillsides of Cornas, sees 25% stems, and is brought up in 20% new French oak. This full-bodied, concentrated effort boasts a deep purple hue, notes of peppery herbs, plums, blackberries, and smoked game, building tannins, and just about overflowing amounts of character. It’s a stunning, brilliant Cornas that’s going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and cruise for 15+ years. Bravo!”
This is the only listing in the USA today!
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Empreintes 2018 750ml Displayed Price: $49, that’s $46.55 at 5% off and $44.10 at 10% off, 16 bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 93+ points “The 2018 Cornas Empreintes offers a riper, more concentrated style, delivering lots of plum and darker currant fruits intermixed with notions of smoked herbs, ground pepper, violets, lavender, and spice box. It’s rich, full-bodied, and concentrated, yet the tannins here are more present, and it has a closed, angular style that’s going to benefit from bottle age. Give bottles 3-4 years at a minimum and it should have a solid decade of longevity after that.”
Joe Czerwinski-Wine Advocate 92-94 points “Nearly as good as the Confidence, the Durands’ 2018 Cornas Empreintes is more open and approachable, with sexy blueberry, blackberry and vanilla nuances. It’s full-bodied, creamy and plush, with a long, vibrant finish.”
This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Empreintes 2019 750ml Displayed Price: $44.50, that’s $42.28 at 5% off and $40.05 at 10% off, 36+ bottles in stock now
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Empreintes 2019 1.5L Displayed Price: $99, that’s $94.05 at 5% off and $89.10 at 10% off, 10 magnums in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 95 points “Iron, peppered game, smoked black and blue fruits, and new leather notes emerge from the 2019 Cornas Empreintes, and it’s medium to full-bodied and wonderfully balanced, with ripe tannins and one hell of a great finish. It’s another pure, balanced, fruit-loaded beauty from this estate that has tons of character. This cuvée comes from hillside parcels (a mix of granite and limestone) and 30-year-old vines. It was 75% destemmed and spent a year in 20% new barrels.”
Joe Czerwinski-Wine Advocate 95 points “Sure, the 2019 Cornas Empreintes is lightly cedary up front, but those notes are more than balanced by crushed stone, salted licorice, and bold cassis and blueberry flavors. Full-bodied and concentrated, this is a rock-solid Cornas with a long, dusty finish, capable of aging and improving up to two decades. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes.”
This is the lowest listed price in the USA today for the magnum!
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Empreintes 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $44.50, that’s $42.28 at 5% off and $40.05 at 10% off, 36+ bottles in stock now
Jeb Dunnuck 96 points “More density and depth, as well as precision, emerge from the 2020 Cornas Empreintes, a smaller production cuvée from 30-year-old vines. Its deep purple hue is followed by a beautiful perfume of black and blue fruits, bloody meat, pepper, and spring flowers. I love its focus and length on the palate, and it’s medium to full-bodied, with plenty of tannins, a great mid-palate, and a salty, bloody finish that keeps you coming back to the glass. It’s a “wow” Cornas for sure.”
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Prémices 2019 750ml Displayed Price: $34.50, that’s $32.78 at 5% off and $31.05 at 10% off, 20 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 94 points “This is packed with dark fig and blackberry paste flavors that roll through slowly but steadily, unveiling extra dark olive, sweet bay leaf, singed alder and juniper accents along the way. There’s buried minerality that should rise to prominence with cellaring. Best from 2023 through 2035. 900 cases made, 140 cases imported. –JM”
Jeb Dunnuck 93 points “The base cuvée from this estate, the 2019 Cornas Prémices is all Syrah that was 80% destemmed. Up-front plum, blackberry, and blueberry fruits, graphite, and peppery herbs all emerge from the glass, and this medium to full-bodied beauty offers a wealth of fruit, no hard edges, and a great finish. It’s a perfect introduction to the wines of this high-quality estate.”
This is the lowest listed price on the West Coast!
Domaine Eric et Joel Durand Cornas Prémices 2020 750ml Displayed Price: $33, that’s $31.35 at 5% off and $29.70 at 10% off, 15 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 93 points “Juicy and youthfully compact, with a core of red and black currant fruit that will need a little time to unfurl. Boasts a backdrop of dried anise and sweet tapenade, along with a refined iron note and a nicely poised finish. Best from 2024 through 2034. 900 cases made, 140 cases imported.”
Don’t miss our additional sales going on now:
Elvio Cogno
5% off any 6-11 in-stock bottles of Elvio Cogno
10% off any 12 or more in-stock bottles of Elvio Cogno
Fritz & Willi Haag
5% off any 3-5 in-stock bottles of Fritz and/or Willi Haag
10% off any 6 or more in-stock bottles of Fritz and/or Willi Haag
Discount will not display online or in your cart,
We will adjust your invoice before processing your charge.
Elvio Cogno sale ends Thursday, March 21st at 9 am Pacific. Haag sale ends Friday, March 22nd at 9 am Pacific.