Red

Les Ruchets

Cornas · France

Fact sheet

roast lamb · cassoulet · game meats · aged cheeses

201492 pts

Vanilla and baking spices frame blueberry and plum fruit in this rich, velvety offering. It's slightly fuller and bolder than Colombo's 2014 La Louvée, but also less precise and perfumed. Drink now–2030.
201192 pts

Like the La Louvée, this wine is plummy and superripe, wrapped in toasty, cedary oak. It's savory as well, with meaty notes carried along by waves of richness. The finish is lined with mouthcoating tannins, suggesting a few years of cellaring are warranted. Drink 2018–2030.
201092 pts

This shows more finely detailed aromas than the 2009—violets and cracked pepper accent dark fruit—but less pure richness and concentration. It's still a full-bodied, dense expression of Cornas, with bright acids highlighting plum and black olive notes. Drink 2015–2025.
200993 pts

Firmly in the style of the vintage, this is dense, full-bodied Cornas, with plenty of fruit. Intense plum, coffee and black olive notes dominate, while the tannins are ripe and plush. Believe it or not, this is actually drinkable now, yet should age easily through at least 2025.
200591 pts

Like many 2005s from the northern Rhone, Colombo's Les Ruchets needs time. The tannins dominate the mouth right now, but the black olive and peppered-meat nuances win out in the end, adding depth to tarry, leathery notes and plummy fruit. Try after 2015.