Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Corton Grand Cru, matured in 25% new oak, has a well-defined bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit mixed with light loamy aromas. The oak is nicely integrated here. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannin, crisp acidity, a gentle grip in the mouth with subtle traces of blue fruit surfacing toward the long and tender finish. Good winemaking at play here.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2016 Marchand Tawse Corton is in a class by itself. As a top performer from the Grand Cru, it exhibits extreme elegance as it brings an uncommon richness to the fore. TASTING NOTES: This wine is powerful, yet balanced in all respects. Its aromas and flavors of red and black fruit, bright strawberries, and oak accents would pair it well with a garlic-rosemary laced roast leg of lamb. (Tasted: March 4, 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.