A seriously good, complex yet supremely elegant wine.
Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
About the Wine
The Northern Rhône region is a paradise for Syrah lovers. And the keenest collectors flock to the steep slopes of Cornas.
Whilst the Noël Verset name might be legendary in these parts, here the A & E stands for Alain (Noël’s nephew) and his daughter Emmanuelle, who’s taken things on since 2016.
A handsome wine from the warmer 2018 vintage, this skilfully balances richness and energy. Sumptous syrah. Whole bunches used here, lend a lovely herby, green olive thread through the riper black plummy fruit and charry spice. Whilst it’ll reward a few years of bottle age, if you’re curiously impatient, this’ll welcome a vigorous, sloshy decant.
About l’Earl Domaine Verset A & E à Cornas
The Verset family, in many respects, has defined the famous style of Cornas Syrah for generations.
From the historic and cult-like wines made by brothers Noel and Louis Verset and on to Louis' son Alain, their small-batch releases from family-famed plots in this coveted sub-region of the Rhone have commanded huge respect around the world.
Now, the legacy continues, with Alain's daughter Emmanuelle taking up the mantle in 2016, and things are on the up here. Raising is in younger casks, and handling is more gentle, leading to much fine tuning of the Cornas.

Rhone Valley, France