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. 80% whole cluster. Aged in 20% new oak and the rest neutral barrels.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
Four plots, two at each end, closer to the mother rock on the Aloxe side, more iron rich clay at the other end. Claude de Nicolay’s great-great-great aunt sold her farms for vineyards in Corton. Similar full purple in colour, but a much deeper bouquet and typically very smooth and supple in the mouth, before lifting at the finish. Thee is an interesting contrast between the super-ripe fruit and the crispness delivered by the whole bunch approach. Tension at the back, so this should work out very well, I believe.
Barrel Sample: 92-95 -
Decanter
The de Nicolay family has a 1.12ha parcel in a prime, mid-slope location in Bressandes. Fermented almost completely with whole clusters at cool temperatures prior to a long ageing in used casks, this has given a limpid wine with bright red berry fruit character. The texture is less massive than the Clos du Roi, but there is no lack of tension. Firm, but not astringent, this is a very pretty wine, with a long, expressive fruit on the finish.
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.