Dominique Cornin Macon-Chaintre 2015
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2018- Decanter
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Wilfred
Wong
The individual vineyards of this Estate represent the legacy of the Cornins’ family history in the Mâconnais. Founded in 1993 by Dominique Cornin, his son, Romain now leads the estate. One of the youngest of a new generation of wine producers, Romain’s knowledge is widely admired by his peers, having studied under his father, the Macon producer, Verget, and in the United States and New Zealand.
The domaine comprises 12,5 hectares over the villages of Chaintré, Fuissé, and Chanes. The individual vineyards of this Domaine are an apt reflection of the Cornin family. Les Chevrières is a one and a half hectares plot produced for the Hospices de Beaune and elevated to 1er Cru status in 2020. Clos Reyssié bears fruit from the same vines his great-great-grandfather set out in 1938. The centenarian parcel in Les Serreudières reaches even deeper into the Cornin’s roots in Mâcon.
Certified organic in 2003, the Cornins use biodynamic farming methods, and their singular objective is to give each of their vineyards the best chance to express its terroir. The harvest is by hand, with fermentation in stainless steel tanks and the single-vineyard wines aged in used oak barrels and demi-muids. Intervention is kept to a minimum here, the grapes are guided from vine to bottle with gravity flow, and the wines are neither fined nor filtered. The Cornin wines show purity and elegance while expressing their origins, which are the guiding principles of this estate.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Crisp, balanced and delicately floral, Chardonnays from the Macon Villages are often made in the unoaked style and offer a magnificent sampling of what white Burgundy has to offer—without years of waiting and high dollar price tags.
Within the greater Mâconnais, the Macon Villages wines are those within a few defined and optimally situated villages, either noted by the name Mâcon-Villages or as Mâcon followed by the name of the particular village, for example Viré, Lugny, Azé, Bray or Burgy.
Commonly vinified in stainless steel or glass-lined concrete vats, these are mostly intended for consumption within a year or two of the vintage, though a few serious Mâconnais producers have turned their focus to smaller yields and barrel fermentation and maturation. Regardless, you can count on Macon Villages whites to be fresh and fruity with citrus and melon flavors, and aromas of white roses, honeysuckle, lemon-grass or fennel.
This is a great region to explore if you already like California, Australian or Chilean Chardonnay.