Cornas Billes Noires Coulet (Domaine du) - Matthieu Barret 2016

Lot presentation

Cornas Billes Noires Coulet (Domaine du) - Matthieu Barret 2016

The wine

Billes Noires is made from Syrah and this is the only grape variety permitted on the appellation. Aged on very decomposed granite soils and clay-silty strips, the Syrah has been completely destemmed. Vinification is done with native yeast, daily punch-down and two-week fermentation. Aged between 4 and 18 months in ovoid shaped vats, followed by débourbage, casked and racked twice. Matthieu Barret offers a deep and concentrated wine, which is rather austere and not particularly aromatic when young. Fine minerality however animates this wine that should be enjoyed with a fine cut of red meat.

About the Producer Domaine du Coulet

The young winemaker Matthieu Barret works with great enthusiasm and energy. The 18 hectares family domaine is planted to Syrah, and other varieties, from which Matthieu makes Cornas and Côtes-du-Rhône. His respect for the environment has earned him biodynamic and organic certification since the early 2000s, a fairly common practice in this region. In the cave, Barret tries to intervene as little as possible to let the wine reflect its terroir and vintage. As Barret says himself “the will to reveal a wine's identity is at the basis of our work”. 2006 marked the release of a new type of wine. Since then, maturation has taken place, in part, in cement egg shaped vats in order to enhance the freshness and fruit present in the wine. This domaine offers three excellent interpretations of Cornas in its three cuvées Brise Cailloux, Les Terrasses du Serre and Billes Noires. The other wines are known for their finesse, freshness and elegance.

Detailed characteristics