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Domaine Marius Delarche, Corton-Renardes Grand Cru

Other, France 2015 (750mL)
$79.00
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Domaine Marius Delarche, Corton-Renardes Grand Cru

We’ve offered so many wines from Domaine Marius Delarche over the last few years you’d think we had a financial stake in the winery or something (we don’t). What can I say: This small domaine, based in the village of Pernand-Vergelesses, continues to outdo itself with each vintage.
Their wines, both white and red, show great purity, depth, and delineation, whether they’re from unheralded vineyards in Pernand-Vergelesses or Grand Crus on the hill of Corton, of which they have a few. This wine is Delarche’s top red, the Grand Cru Corton-Renardes, and in the ultra-ripe 2015 vintage it is a blockbuster. As we continue to taste more 2015s from Burgundy and elsewhere, we’re encountering wines that are darker than normal, lusher than normal, and, as a result, more accessible in their youth. What we see in this particular 2015 is a wine that is indeed generous now, but is still reflective of its noble origins, with an underlying structure that will preserve it for decades. As we said when we offered the 2014 vintage of this wine, this is investment-grade red Burgundy you can still “buy low,” so to speak.
Near the summit of the famed Corton hill, Corton-Renardes is nestled among other southeast-facing Grand Crus such as “Clos du Roi” and “Les Bressandes.” These are the most prized Pinot Noir sites in the Côte de Beaune, delivering wines whose power is perhaps only rivaled by the Grand Crus of Gevrey-Chambertin, in the Côte de Nuits. The Delarche family’s piece of Renardes boasts 50-year-old vines, and in the ripe 2015 vintage, this wine’s concentration and luscious appeal is off the charts. Its saturated core of dark, sappy cherry fruit is complemented by deep and gripping minerality. I may not lay this one down as long as I will the ’14, but this will be a stunner over the next 10 years.

The Delarche winery is in the foothills above Pernand-Vergelesses, where the family has been crafting wines from Corton since the 1940s. Philippe Delarche and his son, Etienne, jointly tended the vineyards and crafted the wine as a team until Philippe lost a long battle with cancer in 2007. Since then, Etienne has carried on, implementing the wisdom of his father and his own experiences around the world to produce beautiful wine one vintage after the next. The hand-harvested fruit is entirely de-stemmed prior to a 10-12 day maceration. The cap is punched down manually during fermentation on only indigenous yeasts in climate-controlled stainless steel tanks. The wine is gently pressed into a combination of used and new French oak barrels where it ages for 15 months, after which it is bottled without fining or filtration to capture every nuance this storied terroir has to offer.  

What you’ll notice straight away in this 2015 Corton-Renardes is its deep, almost-inky garnet core, with purple reflections at the rim. The aromatics, too, reflect a riper vintage, with notes of black cherry, black plum, wet violets, a hint of licorice, black pepper, and forest floor. Nearly full-bodied and quite seductive to sip now, it remains well-framed by a smoky, stony mineral quality and balancing acidity. You can smell and taste “breed” in this wine, even in this rather hedonistic vintage. If you’re enjoying a bottle now, decant it about an hour before serving in Burgundy stems at 60-65. If cellaring, revisit it sooner rather than later: I think it’ll really start to peak in the mid-2020s, offering lots of depth to accompany a good old-fashioned Burgundian dish like coq au vin. High-level deliciousness all around. Cheers!
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Country
France
Region
Other
Sub-Region
FranceCorton-Renardes Grand Cru
Soil
Limestone and Clay
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Pinot Noir
Alcohol
13.0
OAK
Mostly Used French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Burgundy
Drinking
Now-2035
Decanting
1-2 Hours
Pairing
Coq au Vin

France

Bourgogne

Beaujolais

Enjoying the greatest wines of Beaujolais starts, as it usually does, with the lay of the land. In Beaujolais, 10 localities have been given their own AOC (Appellation of Controlled Origin) designation. They are: Saint Amour; Juliénas; Chénas; Moulin-à Vent; Fleurie; Chiroubles; Morgon; Régnié; Côte de Brouilly; and Brouilly.

Southwestern France

Bordeaux

Bordeaux surrounds two rivers, the Dordogne and Garonne, which intersect north of the city of Bordeaux to form the Gironde Estuary, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The region is at the 45th parallel (California’s Napa Valley is at the38th), with a mild, Atlantic-influenced climate enabling the maturation of late-ripening varieties.

Central France

Loire Valley

The Loire is France’s longest river (634 miles), originating in the southerly Cévennes Mountains, flowing north towards Paris, then curving westward and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Nantes. The Loire and its tributaries cover a huge swath of central France, with most of the wine appellations on an east-west stretch at47 degrees north (the same latitude as Burgundy).

Northeastern France

Alsace

Alsace, in Northeastern France, is one of the most geologically diverse wine regions in the world, with vineyards running from the foothills of theVosges Mountains down to the Rhine River Valley below.

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