Description
Domaine Etienne Delarche, “Le Corton” Grand Cru
Everyone, get your fingers at the ready because a quick reaction time is necessary today: Although you’re the first to have access to Burgundy’s greatest, most affordable Grand Cru value, the entirety of America will only ever see 10 cases of Delarche’s 2020 “Le Corton.”
Given the current landscape of upper-echelon Pinot Noir, finding a genuinely elite Grand Cru under $100 is quickly turning into a pipe dream, and the few that do exist are not readily obtainable. So, today’s your once-per-year chance to enjoy an exceedingly rare, blue-chip investment that allows you to drink like royalty without creating a deleterious crater in your bank statement. Culled from a tiny, old-vine parcel at the top of Grand Cru Corton and raised by some of the most thoughtful and traditional hands in the region, this luxury Pinot Noir is a timeless, top-of-the-line benchmark. We’re allowing up to four bottles per customer so one can be enjoyed in the near term while your remainders slumber their way into a spectacular evolution.
NOTE: Those who’ve purchased prior vintages might notice the label has changed. Don’t worry—this is the same producer, same winemaker, same extraordinary Grand Cru bottling.
“Le Corton” shares the famous hill with “Corton-Charlemagne” and the latter was once planted entirely to Pinot Noir. As the legend goes, it was re-planted to Chardonnay after the wife of bacchanalian Emperor Charlemagne was fed up with his Pinot-stained beard. In an attempt to clean up his beard, if not his act, Mademoiselle Charlemagne had the entire vineyard re-planted to Chardonnay. The noble Pinot Noir grape, thankfully, made a resurgence and remains the predominant grape planted (~95%) throughout this majestic hillside. In the Grand Cru lieu-dit of “Le Corton,” however, red has always reigned supreme: This southeast-facing, predominantly limestone vineyard delivers lush and structured red Burgundy that rivals Côte de Nuits’ Grand Crus in power, polish, and intensity.
Delarche’s estate 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. Delarche’s tiny parcel in “Le Corton” is perched at the summit of the hill, around 1100 feet in elevation, near the fringe of the forest. In 2020, the hand-harvested fruit was fully de-stemmed and a native-yeast fermentation occurred in stainless steel. The resulting wine was then gently transferred into French barrels, 30% new, for one year. Afterward, it was bottled without fining or filtration to capture every nuance this storied terroir has to offer.
For starters, I recommend a minimum 30-minute decant before pouring this 2020 into your largest Burgundy stems. Served at 60 degrees, this superb Grand Cru doles out lush swells of red cherry, roasted plum, ripe black raspberry, blood orange, underbrush, iron, baking spice, damp violet, wet stone, and muddled strawberry. Given its youth, this is currently dominated by beautiful primary fruit, so those seeking a more savory Pinot Noir should wait no less than three years before pulling the first cork. Still, with its supple berry fruit and profound minerality wrapped in a firm tannic frame, this medium-bodied stunner is a delight to drink right now (over two evenings). For our money, this remains the finest sub-$100 Grand Cru Burgundy on the market!
