Auguste Clape

Auguste Clape represents a lineage of small-scale, independent growers in Cornas (the southernmost appellation of the Northern Rhône) who rejected the dominant négociant model to produce bottled wines under their own label. Beginning in the 1950s, when Cornas was largely unknown outside France and most growers sold bulk wine to merchants in Lyon, Clape made the radical decision to vinify and age his own fruit. His approach—strict yield control, no chemical inputs, extended aging in old wood, and minimal intervention—became the philosophical foundation for the modern natural wine movement in France.

• Cornas is 100% Syrah, grown on granite and basalt slopes facing south to southwest
• Auguste began as a smallholder farmer selling to négociants before bottling his first vintage (around 1960)
• His early bottlings were virtually unknown to international markets until critical recognition in the 1980s-90s

Auguste Clape's career fundamentally transformed how the Northern Rhône is perceived and how serious Syrah is made worldwide. He proved that Cornas—a village historically dismissed as rustic and lacking in finesse—could produce wines of profound complexity, ageability, and elegance that rivaled the celebrated estates of Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage. His methodology—organic farming, native yeast fermentation, extended aging in old oak, and patience—became the template for quality-focused producers globally and influenced the philosophical underpinnings of the natural wine movement. Without Clape's insistence on terroir expression over technical manipulation, modern Cornas would lack its current prestige.

• Established Cornas as a collectible, ageworthy wine on par with Côte-Rôtie Syrahs
• Demonstrated that low intervention and high standards could coexist with profitability
• Influenced generations of producers seeking authentic expression of Northern Rhône granite terroir

Auguste Clape's vineyard management was remarkably simple and organic avant la lettre: minimal sulfites, no herbicides, hand-harvesting, and complete reliance on natural yeast fermentation. He aged his wine in large old wooden foudres (500-600L capacity) and occasionally in 50-year-old glass demijohns, deliberately avoiding new oak to preserve the wine's minerality and fruit expression. Malolactic fermentation occurred naturally during the first winter in barrel, and bottling typically occurred 18-24 months after vintage, with no fining or filtration. This non-interventionist approach meant wines were sometimes slightly volatile or rustic by conventional standards, but possessed remarkable depth and authenticity.

• Hand-selected harvest from steep vineyard plots with yields of 25-30 hl/ha
• Native yeast fermentation in open wooden vats with no temperature control
• Extended elevage in old oak foudres (500-600L) for 18-24 months
• Zero fining, zero filtration; minimal sulfur additions only at bottling

By the 1990s, Auguste Clape's wines had achieved cult status among serious collectors and Master of Wine professionals, with bottles from legendary vintages (1978, 1983, 1990, 1995, 2009) commanding premium prices at auction. The 1978 Cornas, for instance, reached 85+ points from leading critics in horizontal tastings at 30+ years of age, demonstrating singular ageability. His wines achieved this status despite—or perhaps because of—their lack of international marketing and their inherently austere, mineral-driven profile. Today, any vintage of Auguste Clape Cornas from the 1970s-2005 period (when Auguste himself was directing production) is considered a reference point for Northern Rhône Syrah.

• 1978 Cornas widely regarded as a 25-30 year ageworthy masterpiece
• Recent vintages (2009, 2015, 2018) continue to garner 90+ point scores from major critics
• Bottles from the 1980s-90s regularly appear at Burgundy-level auction prices (€200-600+)

Authentic Auguste Clape Cornas exhibits a distinctive aromatic and textural signature: intense, black-pepper and garrigue-forward aromatics layered with dark red cherry, leather, and graphite minerality. The wine typically shows a deceptively pale garnet color for Syrah, with medium-to-full body and peppery, fine-grained tannins that feel more refined than rustic. Young bottles (under 10 years) can appear austere or even slightly volatile on the nose due to minimal SO₂ intervention, but older bottles develop complex secondary aromas of dried game, earth, and tobacco leaf. The wine's hallmark is its perfect integration of power and elegance—never jammy, never sweet, always fundamentally dry and mineral-driven.

• Garnet to pale ruby color; never deep purple or inky
• Dominant aromas: black pepper, garrigue, leather, graphite, dark cherry
• Tannins are fine-grained and peppery, not heavy or extracted
• Minimal new oak influence; pure terroir expression of granite and slate

Auguste Clape passed away in 2006, leaving his domaine to his son Pierre-Marie (who joined the domaine in 1988) and grandson Olivier (who joined in 2002). The brothers have maintained their father's philosophy with remarkable consistency, refusing to increase production or compromise on yields despite global demand for the wines. Current annual production remains approximately 15,000-20,000 bottles of the main Cornas cuvée, with occasional releases of older vintages from the family's cellars. The domaine has also begun releasing small quantities of a barrel-aged wine (Cornas Sélection Olivier Clape), though always in limited quantities. The Clape name remains synonymous with uncompromising quality and authentic expression of Cornas terroir.

• Olivier and Pierre have maintained zero chemical inputs and extended aging protocols since 2000-2006
• Production remains intentionally small at ~1,500-1,800 cases annually
• Recent vintage 2018 considered one of the decade's finest Cornas bottlings