Organic. Equis is the boutique négoce label of Maxime Graillot and his long-term friend and winemaking partner Thomas Schmittel. There are three wines in the range (the Crozes-Hermitage Equinoxe being the more well-known). Each crop is sourced from a roster of first-rate, mature vineyards where Graillot and Schmittel have a close working relationship with the grower.
This Cornas is drawn from the vines of a grower known to the Graillot family for a long time. There are three parcels: 25% is from a 20-year-old site on the slopes of the great Cornas lieu-dit, Les Chaillots; La Sabarotte (with 35-year-old vines) contributes another 25%; and La Côte (80- to 90- year-old vines, on a 50% gradient) makes up the other half. All are hillside sites where the soils are very rich in granite. The vines have always been organically managed by the owner/grower, Elie Bancel—one of the great characters of the Rhône. Although it is made from purchased fruit, Max and Thomas are quick to point out that they could not manage the vines any better themselves! They also retain the final say as to when the grapes are harvested and send their own team in to do the picking.
The wine is crafted à la the Lises Crozes, save for the addition of a few used, 600-litre casks. The whole bunch component is similarly around 25% (depending on the vintage) and the wine is released with an additional year of age (bottled unfiltered). While the wine is deep and dense, it is also wonderfully pure-fruited, with fleshy, ripe fruit, and a hedonistic yet wonderfully balanced palate with vibrant, sappy freshness and powdery tannins.