Domaine Michel Mallard, Corton Grand Cru, Les Renardes, Burgundy

An introduction to Domaine Michel Mallard, Corton Grand Cru, Les Renardes, Burgundy

Corton Les Renardes is a walled vineyard site in the commune of Aloxe-Corton in the Côte de Beaune. It is a lieu-dit of the Corton Grand Cru appellation for red wines made from Pinot Noir. Domaine Michel Mallard’s Corton Les Renardes comes from a 0.65ha plot of three old-vine parcels ( over 50 years old) that stretches the length of the vineyard from Le Corton down to Les Bressandes. Pebbly marlstone soils, rich in iron oolite with slabs of limestone, allow the roots to penetrate deeply into the soil. The wines are intensely aromatic and lushly fruited, with the gamey-animal subtlety so synonymous with this Grand Cru. Michel Mallard’s Corton Les Renardes is a serious, classic red Burgundy that will reward extended ageing over the next 15-20 years.

Performance

Understanding Domaine Michel Mallard, Corton Grand Cru, Les Renardes, Burgundy

Preferring a natural approach in the cellar, the hand-picked Pinot Noir grapes macerate for up to a week prior to fermentation. Like the rest of Michel Mallard’s wines, a proportion of whole bunch fruit is used, with pumping over performed at the end of the fermentation solely to adjust the tannin structure. Using a percentage of press wine, the cuvée is assembled and aged between 16 and 18 months in 228 litre Burgundian tuns (70% new). These are deep, powerful wines with the balance to age for many years. According to Allen Meadows (Burghound), the 2014 Michel Mallard Corton Les Renardes was ‘one of the best examples in 2014 from the Hill of Corton’.

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