Red Corton Wines

Hey there Berserkers. I’ve been enjoying reading some of the threads over the past couple of weeks and decided to jump in!

Recently moved from San Francisco to New York and trying to learn more about Old World wines and add some more variety to my CA/OR/WA-focused cellar. For better or worse, I recently started dabbling in some wine auctions which I’ve found can be a good way to get some deals on older vintages and other wines I can’t find in retail.

With respect to Burgundy I’ve enjoyed several village and Premier level Volnays and Chambolles in the $50-100 range from the likes of d’Angerville, Lafon, and Dujac and I’m trying to expand my palate a bit. I’ve had mixed results from other communes but maybe I’m just too low on the value scale or drinking them too young.

I’ve never had a true “Grand Cru” red and noticed in some recent auctions some red Corton wines from 2009 in the ~$40-60/bottle range after tax and buyer’s premium. I’m curious what the group’s view is of this part of Burgundy - is it a good place to try out some value “Grand Cru” at this price point? Is there something about the 2009 vintage that is turning people off to the longer term aging potential? Are there producers to generally avoid?

I know there are some well regarded whites in the area but know hardly anything about the reds.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Dan

From reading this forum I concluded that Chandon de Briailles’ Clos du Roi and Bressandes are good ‘budget GC’, and on that reasoning I got myself a 2005 of the former.

Yes, definitely some good values here. Lots of good producers and bottlings. One of my favorites is Louis Jadot Corton Pougets and I highly recommend that - but it will probably run you more like $100+.

This is the credited response. Corton is a bit of a minefield–it’s not all GC quality–but you can find some excellent values and probably #1 on my list is Jadot’s Pougets.

Another good option is Pousse d’Or’s Corton Clos du Roi, which can be found for around $100 and is really quite good. Same with Clavelier’s Corton ‘Le Rognet.’ If you’re willing to up your budget, Faiveley’s ‘Clos de Cortons’ is great, particularly in recent vintages. I do like the Chandon de Briailles Cortons as well but they can be a bit more subtle.

Welcome Dan!

I probably shouldn’t attempt to answer this and should instead let a real Burg person do it, but I’ll just say that I think Corton Grand Cru is by far the least expensive Grand Cru red category. I think the wines tend to be bigger and riper and less stereotypically Burg-ish, and 2009 is a relatively riper, plumper, earlier drinking vintage.

So they’re probably good wines in their own way and might be good values, but (1) it depends on what you’re looking for and (2) I wouldn’t be too hung up on the grand cru designation there as meaning something especially good (“wow, it’s an especially good value because it’s a grand cru at that price”) or bad (“it must be lousy to be a grand cru and that cheap”) for those wines and those prices. Read some reviews, CT notes, notes on here if you can find any, and just evaluate it as it’s own wine.

Someone feel free to correct me if I’m off base on any of that.

Oh, and welcome to the board, please stick around and participate more often. It’s great to have a thoughtful new voice on here.

Don’t forget about the coarse tannins.

Are coarse tannins a typical Corton trait?

Dan–welcome! Certainly try out some Corton’s–2009 would not be a bad vintage to try. In my mind, most of them aren’t really of grand cru quality, but no need to get hung up on that. My own take on most Corton is that, while you may find them drinkable at 10-15 years, they take a long time to really hit their sweet spot (maybe 20 years?), and it’s not until they hit that point that you start to recognize why they are well regarded. Perhaps this is an outdated viewpoint, and with global warming and winemaking changes, no longer applicable, but this is why I don’t buy Corton anymore (and Pommard for that matter). But this may not be how others on the board feel, and you need to make up your own mind. So dive in and try some.

Hi Dan,

Congrats on your first post. Although you referred in the post to Corton, another relative value in the Grand Cru category might be Clos des Lambrays. This wine does not reach the absolute heights of many others but its price point is modestly lower. I’ve enjoyed the 2001 and 2002. In NYC there are probably examples of older vintages available. Happy hunting.

Cheers,
Doug

I think Bouchard Le Corton red is excellent and the 2005 and 2009 are the two best ones I have had. I would jump on an 09 Bouchard Corton

Welcome Dan,

I’m not an expert on Burgundy or Corton, but agree with some of the reccos. I’m a fan of Chandon de Briailles and Jadot’s Pouget is also a great recco.

Somebody mentioned ‘coarse tannins’. I understand the comments but don’t agree. What I do think is that most red Cortons needs significant bottle age. A very ripe, relatively soft vintage like 2009 would be a good intro, but even here I’d be thinking 2025 - 2030 more than 2020 for them to be showing maturity.

Dan Kravitz

Yeah-with regard to tannins, I don’t regard most Cortons as seriously tannic wines. Just slow to come around. They retain that firm, dark red fruit for a long time. Just picture the wine that you opened several years too early, that never really opens up despite several hours of air. there are producers that seem to open sooner. the Jadot Pougets, and the Faively Clos de Corton seem to be vinified to be enjoyable sooner.

I never thought Corton to be grand cru till I tasted a few 30-40 year old versions. Need to be real real patient.

I agree with everything Dan said. Love Chandon de Briailles and Jadot. But, Cortons are not good wines for beginners trying to learn Burgundy because they need so much time to mature.

Jadot Corton Pouget is terrific.

Also, the other GC vineyard that covers a lot of ground, offers opportunity for value/accessible pricing, and which gets knocked in a similar fashion for not always being of GC quality is Clos Vougeot. It too is a bit of a minefield, but perhaps worth trying as there are lovely wines made from the site by a number of producers.

So Dan, if you want to rethink this a bit, you may want to step back and look at other "affordable’ grand crus–like a well selected Clos du Vougeot, or a Lambrays, or a well selected Charmes-Chambertin. Or better yet, give up on the grand-cru thing, and go for some almost grand-cru wines, like Clos St Jacques, Clos des Ducs, NSG Les St Georges, etc.

Hi Dan,

It sounds like you are looking to explore why certain wines are grand cru and expand your knowledge of what burgundy has to offer. This is a fun (and expensive) rabbit hole to go down, but I would recommend against Corton rouge as the best example of what GC burg can be, especially as young as ‘09. Out of curiosity, I opened a Montille Corton Clos du Roi ‘09 a few weeks ago, and frankly regret doing so… it was all primary and still tight, a fraction of its potential with Years/decades more of aging, and nowhere close to what GC burg can be.

I second some of the other opinions shared here that focusing on Village and 1er cru from good/great producers might be a better way to get to some of the Burgundy magic, drinkable a bit sooner so you can figure out what you like. One nice thing about NY (if we are ever allowed to reopen) is that there are a number of excellent retail shops with great european wine knowledge, not to mention restaurants with deep lists.

I really like the wines David Croix makes at Giroud and Domaine des Croix. Nothing rustic or hard about them, yet still very age worthy. I’d start there.

I don’t know if those wines are being made anymore due to climate change, though I wouldn’t put it past Michel Gaunoux. rolleyes