Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Les Valozières

Chandon de Briailles
France
Burgundy
2020

This Premier Cru lies beneath the Corton Bressandes and next to the Corton Paulands, both Grand Cru. Chandon de Briailles owns .28 hectare and the vines were planted in 1987. The soil here is a bit out of the ordinary: thicker clay than in Bressandes with a notable amount of iron and pebbly limestone deeper down. It’s hard for the roots to go deep here. The parcel faces east, just below mid-slope, providing early ripening conditions. Purple fruit with wild aromas, quite structured. It’s possible to age this for a decade or more. Fermented with 100% whole clusters and aged in barrel for 18 months, 10% new oak.

90-92 points
"A less elegant nose is at once much earthier and more sauvage-inflected with its aromas of humus, dark berries and violet hints. There is noticeably more volume if less minerality and refinement to the broad-shouldered flavors that flash a taut muscularity on the rustic, powerful and impressively long finale. This won't win any awards for elegance but then again, that's not why one buys Valozières."
Allen Meadows,
Burghound
April 2022
90-92 points
"The 2020 Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru Les Valozières reveals notes of plums and red berries mingled with sweet spices and forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, deep and structured, it's framed by lively acids and youthfully chewy tannins that I suspect will round out appreciably with further élevage, even if this will always be one of the more tightly wound wines in the range. "
William Kelley,
Wine Advocate
January 2022

SKU/Code: 
DB6623-20
Product Line: 
National Portfolio
Wine
Red
Varietal: 
Pinot Noir
Farming Type: 
Biodynamic