Winemaker Notes
This powerfully structured, rich-fruited wine offers deep, layered berry and oak aromas and flavors, and a persistent finish. It should be held for 5 years in bottle before being opened, and will develop for 15 to 20 years in the cellar.
Serve with roasts or highly seasoned meats, game and most cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Lovely, ripe plum fruit aromas with notes of earth and smoke feature prominently on the nose of this firm, tannic wine with fresh acidity and abundant extract. The grapes come from a domaine-owned parcel at mid-slope next to Le Charlemagne. Jadot is the last producer to isolate this lieu-dit, which is often used for white wine. The structure and freshness of this wine demonstrate that it makes a very interesting red as well.
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Wine Spectator
Lushly textured yet fluid, displaying cherry, raspberry, floral, earth and sweet spice flavors. This is also dense, with refined tannins and bright acidity that keep this focused and long. Best from 2027 through 2045.
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.