Winemaker Notes
This cuvée comes from four parcels situated mid-slope and spread in homogenous fashion over the whole appellation. 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 thirty-five years old and face east. Smells like a forest after the rain and wild strawberries. It's the most structured of the three, yet still very fruit forward. Bright and juicy black cherry and brambly blackberries. Most density and body. Long finish. Excellent.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Very perfumed and spicy, this red evokes incense, sandalwood, rose and wild berry aromas and flavors. The compact frame and dense structure reveal grip on the finish for now, but the aftertaste extends with berry, green olive and spice notes. Best from 2023 through 2042.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2017 Domaine Chandon de Briailles Corton-Bressandes is authentic and New World in style and richness. TASTING NOTES: This wine exhibits rusticity and ripe fruits. Pair its lovely aromas of savory spices, dried earth, and black fruits with a sweet-spiced chicken stew. (Tasted: October 28, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
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.