Reaching a New Level
2012 Clape Cornas Renaissance
"These are some of the most concentrated and structured wines in the vintage...
While it's common to chase the top wines, don't miss his Cornas Renaissance in 2012. It's a terrific wine. " -Jeb Dunnuck
There's no doubt that 2012 is a special vintage for this wine.
I love 2012 Northern Rhônes. They deliver the clarity and brightness that 2010 offered, but come across less sternly. It's a vintage I love for its drinkability, beautiful balance and ultra-fine ageworthy structure.
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By all accounts, something incredible happened to Clape in 2012. Here the vintage was amplified. All the elements of the vintage are there. It's just on a scale without peer. The pristine freshness is there, the immediately appealing fruit is front and center. But the backbone is firmer, and the density is kicked up.
The 2012 Renaissance is one of the great surprises of the vintage. We buy this bottling every year, but I'm not sure that we've seen a vintage that has succeeded like this one.
Renaissance is intended to be Clape's younger vine Cornas bottling to be drunk earlier than his regular one. Of course, this is in the context of Clape's bone crunchingly structured and dark style. While the 2012 Renaissance is certainly less severe than the straight Cornas, this is a dead serious, structured bottle with a core of granite minerality. It's easy to imagine it benefitting from a decade in the cellar.
The Clape family has been a pillar of the community, of the appellation, and of the culture of Cornas since Auguste Clape's first vintage in 1949. The wines reveal something essential about the Cornas' granite slopes. The 2012 Renaissance gets closer to the heights and soul that Clape can deliver than any other edition of this wine.
To order, reply to offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare Wine
Crush Wine & Spirits