The famous Syrah vintner Pierre Auguste Clape from Cornas (Northern Rhône) died a few days ago at the age of 93. He began his career when he married the winegrower's daughter Ariette Frugier in 1949. She owned 8 hectares of family-owned vineyards. At that time the harvest was sold as cask wine to local négociants. Already in 1957 he was the first in the region to start marketing bottled wine. In the following years, he had his first successes in exports and became the most famous winemaker of the northern Rhône in the USA, Great Britain and other European countries, including Germany.
For decades, he developed his wine, which can be stored for a very long time, in concrete tanks and let it mature in used barrels. The wines produced in this way subsequently won the highest international awards. Since 1989 his son Pierre-Marie had worked with him in the winery and later took over the responsibility. In the meantime, his son Olivier is also working in the winery.
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