CORTON CHARLEMAGNE GRAND CRU DOMAINE DU PAVILLON

Tasting notes:

With an attractive pale golden robe embellished with green reflections, our Corton Charlemagne takes on more amber yellow shades with aging.
Of infinite delicateness, the bouquet expresses buttery notes, oven-baked apple, citrus fruit, pineapple, limewood, juniper, cinnamon and flint. Hints of honey are also frequent.
The concentration, distinction and balance of the chardonnay here is pleasantly surprising. The finale is complex and intense.

Serving suggestions
:

Savour this Grand Cru with shellfish such as lobster, crayfish or crab, fish as well as certian white meats, poultry cooked in cream and blue cheeses. The minerality and full-body of our Corton Charlemagne is particularly excellent with foie gras.

Serving and keeping:

Serve at 12°C to 14°C (53°F - 57°F)
Laying down: This wine will reach its potential after several years' ageing. Lay down for 7 to 10 years or more.

Corton Charlemagne is one of the rare white Grand crus of Burgundy. Located on the border of Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits, our vines are planted on the famous Mount Corton and are orientated south-east on the parcel of vineyard called "Les Languettes".
The brown limestone soil on marly limestone bedrock at an average altitude of 280 metres (920 Ft) provides the qualities of finesse which merge beautifully with the ampleness resulting from its exposure.

Vinification
:

Harvested by hand in 25-kg crates, the grapes are brought to the estate's winery as quickly as possible in order to preserve the integrity of this extremely delicate fruit. If necessary, the grapes are then sorted on a vibrating table to remove any damaged grapes or bunches.
Gentle, selective pressing of the entire bunches (pneumatic presses and selection of the press juices) followed by careful static settling of the musts (to eliminate the deposits) allows us to extract all of the potential richness of the grapes and their terroir, while preserving its true essence.
The must is then transferred to oak barrels (60% new oak depending on the category of wine) whose diverse origins (the Tronçais, Allier and Vosges forests), customized toasting, and age all contribute to our quest for bringing out the aromatic complexity that this special terroir has to offer. Alcoholic fermentations are long, lasting from 3 weeks to 2 months, and are carried out at cellar temperature using indigenous but not aromatic yeasts. Longer fermentations lend greater aromatic complexity to the wines as does extended ageing on the lees in carefully selected barrels.

Maturation
:

We age this wine in a traditional fashion at the heart of the estate for 12 to 15 months in oak barrels (30% new oak). During this time, the wine acquires structure and complexity through stirring of the lees, malolactic fermentation and the influence the barrels have on the wine (olfactory interactions and oxidoreduction).