Winemaker Notes
Ruby red with vivid purple reflections, this wine offers a powerful and concentrated nose of black cherry and spice. The palate is rich and smooth, showing both energy and depth, while the finish is elegant. An excellent candidate for cellar ageing, it pairs beautifully with seared foie gras with Armagnac, game, quail, or full-flavored cheeses such as Cîteaux or Reblochon.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Beautiful nose of fresh Damson plums with a slew of delicate, spicy nuances. For anyone who thinks that great Burgundy must be delicate and silky, here is the firm and deeply structured answer to that one-sided viewpoint. Enormously stony wild herb character powers the extremely long, simultaneously firm and expressive finish.
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Wine Spectator
Marked by toasty new oak, vanilla and resin notes, this red also reveals a core of cherry, raspberry, earth and mineral flavors. Broad and powerful, backed by bright acidity and fine-grained, chalky tannins. Though long, this needs time to integrate all the elements. Best from 2029 through 2048. 57 cases imported.
Founded in 1825, Bourgognes Faiveley has been handed down from father to son for over 175 years. As the sixth generation to take the reins, François Faiveley manages, with equal amounts passion and competence, the largest family domaine in Burgundy. Methodically reconstructing vineyards fractured by French inheritance laws, Bourgognes Faiveley today owns more appellations in their entirety (monopoles) than any other domaine in Burgundy.
"Faiveley’s wines are... supremely clean and elegant: definitive examples of Pinot Noir... above all they have richness and breed, the thumbprint of a master winemaker."
-Clive Coates M.W.
Côte d’Or, A Celebration of the Great Wines of Burgundy
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.