Domaine Auguste Clape

The Clapes were winegrowers for several generations in the Languedoc until difficult times at the start of the 20th century led the family to start over in the Rhône Valley. Auguste Clape, born in 1925, began working at the estate in the 1940s. In 1949 he married Ariette Frugier, heiress of the Frugier farming estate, who inherited vineyards from her family, and he went on to revive the property's vineyard, which had been almost abandoned after the phylloxera crisis. At the time, vignerons in Cornas sold their grapes to the local négociants; in 1957 the Clapes became the first in the area to bottle their own wine. The wines slowly earned a reputation for quality in foreign markets, especially the United Kingdom and the United States, and in the 1970s Auguste was one of the first to export his wines to the United States and England. Success allowed him to expand the family's land holdings gradually and to upgrade its winemaking equipment.

• Early 20th century: after several generations as winegrowers in the Languedoc, the family started over in the Rhône Valley.
• 1949: Auguste Clape married Ariette Frugier, who inherited vineyards from her family.
• 1957: the Clapes became the first in the Cornas area to bottle their own wine.
• 1970s: Auguste was one of the first to export his wines to the United States and England.

Auguste Clape (1925-2018) passed his experience and knowledge down to two generations. His son Pierre-Marie Clape began working with him in 1989. Pierre-Marie's son Olivier spent time in New Zealand and California before starting at the family domaine in 2002. As of 2021, the estate was in the hands of Pierre-Marie and Olivier Clape.

• Auguste Clape (1925-2018): began working at the estate in the 1940s.
• Pierre-Marie Clape: son of Auguste; began working with his father in 1989.
• Olivier Clape: grandson of Auguste; started at the family domaine in 2002 after time in New Zealand and California.

The estate covered 8.5 hectares as of 2018, and in 2010 its Cornas holdings totalled 5.5 hectares. Its vineyards are spread across historic hillside plots visible from the village, including the lieux-dits Sabarotte, Patou, Tézier, Mazards and La Côte, a parcel in Petite Côte and a patch of old vines in the south-facing Reynards. Part of the Sabarotte parcel came from Noël Verset's holdings when he retired. Pierre-Marie Clape assembled additional plantings in some of the town's best lieux-dits. The Côtes du Rhône and Le Vin des Amis come from nearby vineyards outside the Cornas appellation, and the domaine also makes a white from neighbouring Saint-Péray.

• 8.5 hectares as of 2018; 5.5 hectares in Cornas as of 2010.
• Cornas lieux-dits: Sabarotte, Patou, Tézier, Mazards, La Côte, Petite Côte and old vines in the south-facing Reynards.
• Part of the Sabarotte parcel came from Noël Verset's holdings when he retired.

The domaine ferments its lots separately, by parcel and vine age, before making the final blend. The Cornas is fermented with the stems in raw concrete tanks and then aged for two years in used wooden foudres. The domaine began buying foudres in 1985 and had all of its élevage in foudre by the 1994 vintage; in 2010 most of its foudres were 40 years old or older and had been made by a cooperage no longer in business. As of 2010, Pierre-Marie Clape preferred a faster malolactic fermentation, for less chance of reduction while the wine spends its time in foudre.

• Lots fermented separately by parcel and vine age, then blended.
• Fermented with the stems in raw concrete tanks; aged for two years in used wooden foudres.
• Foudres bought from 1985; all élevage in foudre by the 1994 vintage.

The domaine has never made single-vineyard bottlings. The Cornas, which has no cuvée name, is made from the older vines; as of 2018 it came from vines of 40 to 90 years of age. A selection of old vines in the Reynard lieu-dit always goes into it, and as of 2012 the La Côte parcel was typically one-third of the blend. Renaissance, first made in 1997, is a barrel selection that tends to come from younger vines; the first vintage was ruined by a faulty batch of corks, so 1998 is effectively its first vintage. In 2010 the domaine made about 18,000 bottles of Cornas and 3,000 bottles of Renaissance a year. The range also includes a 100% Syrah Côtes du Rhône and a 100% Syrah Vin de France, Le Vin des Amis, both from nearby vineyards outside the Cornas appellation, and a white Saint-Péray, which was made entirely from Marsanne in 2012. After the 2007 vintage the domaine stopped making a white Côtes du Rhône and replanted those vines to Syrah.

• Cornas: from the older vines, always including old vines from Reynard.
• Renaissance: a barrel selection that tends to come from younger vines; effective first vintage 1998.
• Côtes du Rhône and Le Vin des Amis: 100% Syrah from vineyards outside the Cornas appellation.
• Saint-Péray: a white from neighbouring Saint-Péray, made entirely from Marsanne in 2012.

Wine Spectator's James Molesworth described the archetype Cornas that Auguste Clape created as 'a briary, olive- and chalk-filled, muscular version.' In 2009 Pierre-Marie Clape said of the Cornas that 'it needs 10 years minimum, and up to 20,' while he liked Renaissance 'right away, up to about 12, maybe 15 years maximum in a good vintage.' In 2012 he called the Reynard parcel 'always the soul of the blend.'

By 2018 the estate's Cornas had earned a classic score (95 to 100 points on Wine Spectator's 100-point scale) 10 times and had three times earned a spot in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of the Year. Decanter's 2018 obituary described Auguste Clape as one of the pioneers of the renewal of quality wines in Cornas.

Primary sources: none (no producer website used). Secondary sources: https://www.winespectator.com/articles/auguste-clape-dies-at-93, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/opinion/cornas-pierre-auguste-clape-has-died-397786, https://www.decanter.com/premium/domaine-clape-cornas-vertical-tasting-from-2017-1987-435288/, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/day-5-in-the-rhone-part-2-42362, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/the-rhone-day-8-keeping-some-stubble-for-a-day-in-cornas-16010, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/day-6-northern-rhone-syrahs-yin-yang-46986, https://www.winespectator.com/articles/a-stubbly-sunday-in-cornas-49331. Last verified 2026-10-14.