In the glass, the “Granit 30” unleashes rich aromatics in the form of ripe blackberry, pulverized black cherry, boysenberry, and Crème de Violette, followed by a primal roar from the depths of earth: star anise, olive tapenade, raw leather, cured meat, crushed granite, scorched clay, purple flowers, wild herbs, and whole clove. The palate is dense, hearty, muscular, and intense, showing that classic hard-bodied Northern Rhône style that has caused sommeliers to swoon for decades.
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The tiny region of Cornas, with just over 100 planted hectares, is the most southern of Northern Rhône’s famous appellations, naturally making it the warmest. Paris’ “Granit 30” comes from a parcel that is the lowest-lying of the Cornas holdings, with “30” loosely referring to both the gradient and average age of vines. These organically farmed vines are lovingly tended by hand throughout the growing season and they heavily prune them, leaving just four bunches of grapes per vine, whereas the norm is 5-7. The theory here is that more energy and concentration is distributed into the clusters that remain hanging. After hand harvesting, Paris leaves a small portion of the crop on its stems and fermentation occurs with indigenous yeasts in a combination of neutral French oak and stainless steel. Following, the resulting wine is entirely transferred into barrels where it then matures for 12 months. It is bottled without any fining or filtration.
