Description
Follin-Arbelet’s Corton-Charlemagne offers a fine interpretation of this immense and highly complex terroir. Produced from old vines, it possesses all the characteristics of the white Grands Crus: richness and opulence combined with minerality, energy and dynamism. It reveals itself with beautifully ripe fruit and generosity, yet without any heaviness. A wine that lacks neither finesse nor elegance, whilst offering a lovely energy. This balance allows for excellent ageing (3–10 years and beyond).
In the vineyard, in the cellar
On the edge of the Corton woods, at an altitude of 350 metres, overlooking the Bressandes vineyard, facing due east, on white marl soil.
The whole Chardonnay grapes are pressed immediately after harvest. The must is then transferred directly to barrels after a night of settling. Alcoholic fermentation takes place entirely in barrels over several weeks, or even several months.
What to eat with a Corton-Charlemagne from Follin-Arbelet?
- Cream of lobster soup
- Pike soufflé
- Crayfish aumônière
- Quail’s eggs with caviar or truffles
- Veal sweetbreads.
The Corton-Charlemagne appellation
Location
On the border between the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune, sloping towards the latter, at an altitude of between 280 and 330 metres, Corton-Charlemagne is largely south-west facing (a rarity in the Côte). High and rounded on its three vineyard-facing sides, the Montagne de Corton brings together the villages of Aloxe-Corton (Climat Le Charlemagne), Pernand-Vergelesses (Climat En Charlemagne) and Ladoix-Serrigny (several Climats in whole or in part: Pougets, Corton, Languettes).
This vineyard was gifted by Emperor Charlemagne in 775 to the Saint-Andoche collegiate church in Saulieu. It remained part of this heritage for a thousand years! Still celebrating the emperor with the flowered beard today, Corton-Charlemagne brings together the Charlemagne and En Charlemagne Climats, as well as a few neighbouring Climats united under this banner (the Grand Cru AOC dates from 31 July 1937). Unlike Corton, the name of the Climat does not appear on the label.
Terroirs
On steep slopes (20 to 23%) and on the highest part of the Montagne de Corton, which offers a perfect geological cross-section (younger Jurassic soils between Ladoix-Serrigny and Meursault, 145 million years old), marly soils varying in colour (yellowish, ochre, brown), rich in clay. Limestone banks alternate with marl beneath a thin layer of rendzina. Corton (predominantly red) is produced halfway up the slope on significantly different soils.
List of Climats and lieux-dits
- Basses Mourottes
- En Charlemagne
- Hautes Mourottes
- Le Charlemagne
- Le Corton
- Les Languettes
- Les Pougets
- Les Renardes
(source: www.vins-bourgogne.fr)
