Winemaker Notes
This cuvée comes from four parcels which total 1.12 hectare, situated mid-slope and spread in homogenous fashion over the whole appellation, giving a nice typicity of Bressandes. The soils are deep and made up in equal parts of limestone and clay, giving the wine lovely balance and great length on the palate. It is a terroir that is very representative of the appellation Corton. The vines average 40 years-old and face east.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
This wine currently is all about structure. It has power and weight as well as ripe jammy red fruits. The tannins and opulent fruit speaking to the wine's enormous potential. Drink from 2026.
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Decanter
The Corton-Bressandes was cropped at a fairly low yield of 22hl/ha in 2016 and fermented with 100% whole cluster fruit. The incipiently complex bouquet offers up notes of ripe plum, spice, bitter orange, dried flowers and forest floor, followed on the palate by a full-bodied, richly structured wine with a deep core of fruit, supple tannins and a lovely sense of energy through the long and penetrating finish. The generous mid-palate of Bressandes is already expressive, and like the Maréchaudes this seems to be a relatively precocious rendition of this cuvée, which may be bottled after Christmas if it clarifies sufficiently, says de Nicolay.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Corton Bressandes Grand Cru is also showing extremely well, unfurling in the glass with aromas of cassis, ripe plums, dark chocolate, dried flowers and spices. On the palate, it's full-bodied, ample and velvety, with a deep, layered core, succulent balancing acids and a long, intense and beautifully soil-driven finish. Cropped at 22 hectoliters per hectare, this is an exceptional Bressandes that will be well worth seeking out.
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.