2022 Domaine Durand Cornas "Empreintes", Rhône Valley, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

“Empreintes” is a step up in concentration within the Durand Cornas range and is reported to come from a selection of older vines. For the 2022 vintage, about 30% of the fruit was fermented as whole cluster, meaning a meaningful portion of ripe stems was retained during fermentation. The wine was then aged for 12 months in barrel.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Domaine Éric & Joël Durand is a family-run estate based in Châteaubourg in the Northern Rhône. Brothers Éric and Joël joined their father in the late 1980s and began estate-bottling their wines in the early 1990s. Today, the domaine farms roughly 20 hectares across Cornas, Saint-Joseph, Saint-Péray, and the surrounding Rhône hillsides.

The brothers work primarily with Syrah for their reds, alongside Marsanne, Roussanne, and Viognier for their whites. Their vineyards include steep, granite-rich slopes, with notable Cornas holdings in areas such as Patou, Chaillots, and Mazard. Much of the vineyard work is performed by hand, and the estate follows sustainable farming practices, earning France’s HVE environmental certification in 2019.

In the cellar, the Durands aim to balance the powerful, savory character of Northern Rhône Syrah with freshness, precision, and finesse. Their Cornas wines retain the appellation’s signature dark fruit, spice, minerality, and structure, but generally show a more polished and approachable character than traditionally rustic examples. Their Cornas “Empreintes” is one of the domaine’s more serious expressions, showcasing the depth and structure of Syrah grown on Cornas’ granite slopes.