Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A live wire of a white, with a racy, resonant structure that sets the stage for high-impact flavors of peach, apple pie, vanilla and toast. Comes together midpalate before fanning out on the long, expansive finish. Best from 2021 through 2030. 25 cases imported.
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Decanter
Wherever he makes white wine in Burgundy, Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey does it with flair and sensitivity. This impressive Corton-Charlemagne marries fruit from mostly the Pernand side, with one-third from Les Languettes in Aloxe-Corton. Fermented in 350-litre barrels, 40% new, it has a winning combination of power, concentration and pithy minerality, with intensity that builds on the palate.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is showing especially well. As usual, it's a blend of fruit from Aloxe and Pernand, but Colin told me that he is now sourcing an additional parcel from Pernand, so the blend has changed. He also added that he is picking a touch later, seeking greater plenitude. The result is a very successful wine that unfurls in the glass with a classy bouquet of citrus oil, subtle spices, crisp green apple, nutmeg and beeswax. On the palate, it's full-bodied, deep and layered, with excellent concentration, racy acids and a chalky, phenolic finish. This might be Pierre-Yves Colin's finest Corton-Charlemagne to date.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
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.