A notch better than the Grand Classique, the 2017 Cornas Arenes Sauvages is more fruit-driven, with bold cassis and blueberry framed by oak-derived hints of mocha. Medium to full-bodied, it's concentrated and silky, with meaty notes on the lingering finish. It warrants a year or two of cellaring, then should drink well for a decade.

Maturation in new French oak lends prominent accents of char, vanilla and nutmeg to this glossy, black fruited Syrah. It's a flamboyant, intensely luscious sip packed with crème de cassis and mulberry flavors, but precisely composed, too. Youthful fruit flavors are immediately hedonistic, but the coarse, gripping tannins should meld better through 2030.

Inky ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe black and blue fruits, game and licorice, and a smoky mineral accent emerges with air. Sweet and velvety in texture, offering intense dark fruit preserve, salty olive and floral pastille flavors brightened by a snap of juicy acidity and a touch of cracked pepper. Hangs on with impressive tenacity on the gently tannic finish, which leaves vibrant black and blue fruit notes. This is pretty suave for a young Cornas.

A solid step up over the Cornas Classique, the 2017 Cornas Arenes Sauvages is a selection from steeper, decomposed granite soils. It has a darker, earthier, almost bloody character as well as old school cedary spice, garrigue, and hints of graphite. Medium to full-bodied, it has loads of fruit, notable complexity, ripe tannins, and outstanding length.