Winemaker Notes
This wine's sophisticated nose harmoniously combines notes of red fruit (cherry, raspberry…) with subtle hints of toast and a whisper of vanilla. Fleshy and powerful on the palate, this wine expresses impressive osmosis between the richness and finesse of its terroir, and a dense, velvety tannic structure. Nice volume and remarkable length on the palate.
Taste this wine with finely prepared roasted or stewed meats (beef, game, duck), or with medium to mature cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Remarkably juicy and silky for this appellation. This has great understated power on the refined, medium-bodied palate. It’s hard to tear yourself away from the very long and elegant finish. A wealth of red-fruit aromas with some orange. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.
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Decanter
Delicious, boasting ripe cherry fruit with hints of rose petals, rosemary and peppery spice. The texture is muscular and powerful, with firm tannins and dense extract, yet the wine is approachable. The grapes are from the 2ha Bichot monopole in Corton, where 0.6ha is grand cru Corton and 1.4ha at the base of the slope is classified as village. The grapes were picked on 12 September, right after the rain. They were partially destemmed and carefully fermented before ageing in cask.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Corton Clos des Maréchaudes Grand Cru is lovely, with a more polished, seamless profile than its premier cru counterpart this year (the grand cru appellation, added for Maréchaudes in 1943, bisects the parcel). Revealing aromas of dark berries, cherries and a deft touch of new oak, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and suave.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Vinous
The 2023 Corton Clos des Maréchaudes Grand Cru comes from the walled monopole of 0.55 hectares. This vintage includes 25% whole bunches. The 2023 is more peppery on the nose compared to other cuvées, dark berry fruit mixing with rooibos and strawberry pastilles. The palate is well balanced with a smooth entry, plenty of concentration, slightly confit-like red fruit and a dash of white pepper on the finish. This should give up to 15 years of drinking pleasure, possibly more.
Since 1350, the Bichot family has called Burgundy home. But, it was in 1831 that Bernard Bichot founded a merchant house bearing his name in Monthélie, a couple of kilometers south of Beaune. At the end of the 19th century, his grandson Albert Bichot took the family business into a new direction and created the winery, Maison Albert Bichot as we know it. The family heritage has been perpetuated from father to son since then. The family crest, consisting of a deer and antlers, has been synonymous with the winery since its inception.
Since 1996, Albéric Bichot has represented the 6th generation managing the winery. The winery’s mission is to utilize the best fruit possible to create the best wine and best expression of terroir. In the constant pursuit of accomplishing this mission, Albert Bichot has acquired 250 acres of vineyards in the most reputed growing areas throughout Burgundy. In addition to this expertise as a wine-grower, Albert Bichot carefully sources grapes with an extremely hands-on approach, in order to vinify many of its regional and village wines, enabling them to supply high quality wines with continuity. For these grapes sourced from our partner growers, quality, and a close partnership, are of the utmost importance.
Albert Bichot owns 6 Domaines set at the heart of 5 great vinicultural regions that make up Burgundy: Chablis, Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune, Cote Chalonnaise, and Beaujolais. Each estate consists of vineyards cultivated with sustainable practices, as well as facilities, cellars and dedicated winemaking teams devoted to wines of that Domaine and region.
The 6 estates include:
- Domaine Long-Depaquit in Chablis
- Chateau Gris in the Cote de Nuits (Nuits-St.-Georges)
- Domaine du Clos-Frantin in the Cote de Nuits (Nuits-St.-Georges)
- Domaine du Pavillon in the Cote de Beaune (Pommard)
- Domaine Adelie in the Cote Chalonnaise (Mercurey)
- Domaine du Rochegres in Beaujolais (Moulin-à-Vent)
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Prevailing over the charming village of Aloxe, the hill of Corton actually commands the entire appellation. Corton is the only Grand Cru for Pinot Noir in the entire Côte de Beaune. Its Grand Crus red wines can be described simply as “Corton” or Corton hyphenated with other names. These vineyards cover the southeast face of the hill of Corton where soils are rich in red chalk, clay and marl.
Dense and austere when young, the best Corton Pinot Noir will peak in complexity and flavor after about a decade, offering some of the best rewards in cellaring among Côte de Beaune reds. Pommard and Volnay offer similar potential.
The great whites of the village are made within Corton-Charlemagne, a cooler, narrow band of vineyards at the top of the hill that descends west towards the village of Pernand-Vergelesses. Here the thin and white stony soils produce Chardonnay of exceptional character, power and finesse. A minimum of five years in bottle is suggested but some can be amazing long after. Fully half of Aloxe-Corton is considered Grand Cru.