Domaine Tollot-Beaut Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru 2017
-
Wine
Spectator -
Jasper
Morris -
Wine &
Spirits
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Bressandes is highly expressive, firm, and powerful thanks to the high limestone content of its soil. Often cited as one of the very best climats on the Corton hill, it shows aromas and flavors of red and blackberry liqueur, earthiness, flowers, and herbs with powerful tannins. Corton-Bressandes will reward long aging in a cool cellar.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Ripe strawberry, cherry, sandalwood, rose and mineral aromas and flavors abound in this taut, racy red. Intense, succulent and harmonious, leaving a firm and mouthwatering finish. Terrific length. Best from 2023 through 2045.
-
Jasper Morris
Clear fresh bright purple, plenty of energy here. Vigorous and fresh with a little new oak. This is very pretty on the palate with good acidity, an attractive veneer of vanilla style new oak, fair density and some persistence.
-
Wine & Spirits
Earthy and dark in tone, this wine has meaty beef broth flavors to its plummy fruit. The wine is powerful, but closed off for now. Cellar this for five years or more to allow the wine’s complexity to develop.
Other Vintages
2020-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
Spirits
-
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker - Decanter
-
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
-
Wine
Spectator
-
Wine &
Spirits
The Tollot family represents a long lineage of winegrowers dating back to the late 1880s when François Tollot began planting vineyards in Chorey-lès-Beaune. His son, Alexandre Tollot, continued in his father’s footsteps and married Aurélie Beaut. In 1921, Tollot-Beaut became one of the first to bottle their wines under the domaine and started exporting their wines to the U.S. shortly thereafter. Today, cousins Nathalie, Jean-Paul, and Olivier Tollot are in charge. The wines of Tollot-Beaut are well-known for their serious but pleasing style across a range of appellations from Bourgogne to Grand Cru. The Tollot-Beaut cellar is in the center of Chorey-lès-Beaune on the rue Alexandre Tollot, named after Nathalie’s great grandfather who was once the Mayor of Chorey. Parts of the meticulously kept cellar are over 250 years old. Chardonnay is pressed pneumatically and starts fermentation in stainless-steel tanks before finishing alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in barrel. Pinot Noir is almost entirely de-stemmed. The wines of Tollot-Beaut were once made with more new oak but in recent years the oak influence has become subtler. Village and regional wines receive about 20% new oak while the Grand Crus receive about 60% new oak.
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.