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Edmond Cornu & Fils, Aloxe-Corton Premier Cru, “Les Moutottes”

Burgundy, France 2013 (750mL)
$59.00
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Fruit
Earth
Body
Tannin
Acid
Alcohol

Edmond Cornu & Fils, Aloxe-Corton Premier Cru, “Les Moutottes”

If you look at the day-to-day flow of offers on SommSelect, it’s a reflection of how we like to enjoy wine: Sometimes, I crave a new adventure; other times, I want a timeless classic. And for the latter, you couldn’t ask for more timelessness or deeper classicism than Domaine Edmond Cornu & Fils.


Today’s 2013 is the wine equivalent of an all-time-great song: No matter how many times you’ve heard it, it grabs and holds your attention whenever it comes on. Everyone here at SommSelect was nodding enthusiastically to the beat of today’s Premier Cru “Les Moutottes,” which, like most Cornu wines, has only now begun to shed its youthful reticence and started to blossom. Sourced from just a half-hectare of vines on the eastern slopes of the monumental Corton hill, this wine isn’t merely an archetype of traditionally styled Burgundy—it’s extremely rare, with only about 300 bottles (not cases, bottles) making it to the US in any given vintage. The Les Moutottes parcel is high up on the slope, directly adjacent to the Corton Grand Cru “Le Rognet,” and the Cornu house style is all about woodsy, earthy transparency. For a true Burgundy lover, it’s like coming home—especially at this way-under-market price. Wait ‘till you taste it! This is a Grand Cru-level experience with 20+ years ahead of it. Given its tiny production, we don’t have a lot to share, but anyone who’d like a reminder of what a true original tastes like should try to get their hands on some. It is worth it, believe me!


The Cornu family vineyard holdings map out like the strategic deployments of a general trying to “take” the Corton hill: Their 15.5 hectares (13.5 of which are planted to Pinot Noir) are spread across the villages of Ladoix-Serrigny (where the winery is located), Chorey-lès-Beaune, Aloxe-Corton, and Savigny-lès-Beaune, along with a small plot in Corgolin, in the Côte de Nuits. Cornus have lived and farmed vines in Ladoix since the 1870s, selling their fruit to négociants until Edmond Cornu established a proprietary label in the 1950s. Edmond’s son, Pierre, joined the team in the mid-1980s and has since taken full control of the reins, but really, not much has changed in terms of approach or style. Cornu is steadfastly “old school” in its approach: The wines are the kinds of Burgundies many of us have only heard or read about—earthy and “rustic” in the best sense of that word. When we offered a 2012 Grand Cru from Cornu last year, I described the wines as being like hibernating bears; in the case of this 2013, it has awakened completely and is one of the most soul-stirringly delicious Burgundies I’ve had in a long while.



Although the typical Aloxe-Corton Pinot Noir profile is firm, woodsy, and structured, this Les Moutottes offers up some generous mid-palate fruit to complement its more savory, mineral elements. As is typical for Cornu, the fruit for this ’13 was hand-harvested and completely de-stemmed, fermented in stainless steel, then transferred to mostly used French oak barrels for a relatively long élevage (aging) of 18 months. Also typical for Cornu: This wine is just getting started and still has lots of graceful evolution ahead of it. You should absolutely open a bottle now; just give it 60 minutes in a decanter first before serving it.



In the glass, the 2013 Les Moutottes is a medium garnet-red in the glass moving to pink and orange at the rim, with the kind of aromatic profile that turns the “Burgundy curious” into full-blown fanatics: red and black cherry, red currant, dried orange peel, rose petals, hibiscus, dried mushrooms, warm spices, underbrush, smoke, and a touch of leather carry through to the medium-bodied palate, which will continue adding weight and dimension over time. It’s a pitch-perfect fusion of fruit and earth—a wine that will simultaneously soothe the souls of jaded experts and open the eyes of Burgundy novices. This wine is incredible this very moment but will evolve in a positive direction for decades to come. Pour it into Burgundy stems at 60-65 degrees and pair it with roast chicken or game birds for a meal that’ll feel like a journey back in time (in a good way!). Enjoy!


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Country
France
Region
Burgundy
Sub-Region
FranceAloxe-Corton Premier Cru
Soil
Limestone & Clay
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Pinot Noir
Alcohol
13.0
OAK
20% New French
TEMP.
60-65
Glassware
Burgundy Stems
Drinking
Now-2035
Decanting
60 Minutes
Pairing
Chicken w/ Black Truffles

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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