| Region of production: | Cornas |
| Winery Location: | Cornas |
| Year Established: | 1907 |
Vineyard Holdings
Cornas: 5.83 ha total
- Reynard: 1.2 ha
- Tézier: 0.46 ha
- La Côte: 0.86 ha, planted in 1954
- La Geynale: 0.68 ha
- Pied de la Vigne: planted in 1890
- La Sabarotte: purchased from Noël Verset upon his retirement
St. Péray: 0.23 ha Marsanne, planted in the 1940s and 1990
Côtes du Rhône: 1 ha Syrah on the plain south of the village; the white vines here were torn out after the 2007 vintage and replanted to Syrah
Top Wines Produced & Inaugural Vintages
- Cornas: assemblage from 12 parcels (average vine age 30-60 years)
- Cornas “Renaissance”: assemblage from 12 parcels (average vine age 12-20 years): Inaugural vintage 1998.
- Côtes du Rhône: 100% Syrah from vineyards outside the Cornas appellation
- Le Vin des Amis (Vin de France):declassified Côtes du Rhône; young vines from Cornas plus occasional Cornas press wine
Average Total Production
- 30,000 bottles
Summary
The Clape family has a 250-year history working as vignerons, though they were forced to start from scratch in Cornas after relocating from the Languedoc due to the grower strikes of 1906 and 1907. Auguste Clape, who took over in 1949, is widely credited as the first to practice domaine-bottling in Cornas in 1957, using fruit from vineyards planted by his wife’s grandfather. He was joined by his son Pierre-Marie in 1989, who now runs the domaine with his son Olivier. For many people, this is the gold standard domaine in Cornas.
Style & Vinification Techniques
Clape is an example of a traditional approach to winemaking in the Northern Rhône. Red grapes are not de-stemmed, and the wines are punched down by foot and pumped over twice daily. Aging for the Cornas bottlings is 22 months in old 6- and 12-hl foudres. The Côtes du Rhône and Vin des Amis see 12 months in a combination of foudre and cement. The reds are not filtered, but they are fined with egg whites. The white is vinified and aged in stainless steel.
Producer Website: N/A