Twin Spirits of the Rhône: Tradition and Terroir in Cornas and Saint-Péray
In the southern reaches of the northern Rhône, tucked between granite hills and windswept limestone ridges, lie two characterful yet contrasting appellations: Cornas and Saint-Péray . Though separated by only a few kilometers, and in some cases, by a vineyard path, their personalities could hardly be more different. One is fiercely red, the other quietly white. One has a legacy of rustic intensity, the other of sparkling nobility fallen into quiet obscurity, only to be reborn through stillness. Both, however, are shaped by terroir as much as tradition , and today, both are being reshaped by a new wave of winemakers unafraid to innovate within the lines of heritage. Cornas: Where Granite Bleeds Syrah Cornas has always been a wine of the land. Its name, derived from the Celtic cornasse , meaning “burnt land,” speaks to its sun-drenched, south-facing slopes carved into an amphitheater of ancient granite . This decomposed granite, or gore , crumbles underfoot and drains fast, stressing ...
