2019 Cornas, La Sabarotte, Domaine Courbis, Rhône

Bottled in June 2021, the 2019 Cornas la Sabarotte delivers huge doses of pristine blueberry and cherry fruit despite being aged in a combination of new and one-year-old barrels. It's full-bodied, rich and tannic but supple, with a long, lively finish. Stylistically, it nicely epitomizes what consumers have come to expect from the Courbis family.

It was great to be back at the Courbis's hillside tasting room in the tiny commune of Châteaubourg, hosted by the always genial Laurent Courbis. We started with prepared barrel samples of the 2020s, a vintage which he said, "[is] ripe but fresh, aromatic, with great balance, similar to 2017." We then moved into the bottled 2019s, which are another solid vintage for the Courbis family, although maybe lacking some of the spark of 2020. These are modern, ripe, sometimes oaky wines that I'm sure make some purists wince but which provide immense pleasure and have yet to see prices soar out of reach.

Drink 2025 - 2040