Corton-Charlemagne

Coordinates: 47°04′18″N 4°51′20″E / 47.07167°N 4.85556°E / 47.07167; 4.85556
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Corton hill as seen from southwest. The Corton vineyards on this side of the hill are located in Aloxe-Corton.

Corton-Charlemagne is an

grape varieties.[1] Around 300,000 bottles of white wine are produced each year in the appellation.[2]

Corton-Charlemagne is named after the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, who once owned the hill of Corton on which the vineyards now rest. The first mention of a Clos de Charlemagne dates to 1375, in a lease of the 'Clos le Charlemagne' by the Chapitre de Saint-Androche-de- Saulieu.[3] According to later legend, the vineyards are dedicated to white grape varieties because the emperor's wife preferred white wines as they did not stain his beard.[4] The AOC was created in 1937.[5]

The vines are located on the higher ground of a hilltop that stretches between the

Route 74. The red wine appellation of Corton covers the lower part of the hill with the areas for Corton and Corton-Charlemagne partially overlapping. Furthermore, there is a third Grand Cru appellation on the Corton hill, Charlemagne, that may be used for white wine produced from the En Charlemagne lieu-dit. However, as En Charlemagne is only 0.28 hectares in size, production is limited and usually blended with grapes from the other lieu-dits of Corton-Charlemagne.[6][7]

As of 2012, the Corton-Charlemagne AOC was producing an average of 2,280 hectoliters of wine a year (around 304,000 bottles of wine) representing more than 2 out of every 3 bottles of all the Grand Cru class white wine produced throughout the Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune.[8] Bonneau du Martray is the largest single owner of vines within the Corton-Charlemagne vineyard with 9.5 hectares.[9]

History and name

The name of the Roman Emperor Otho was eventually corrupted into "Corton".

The hill of Corton that contains the Corton-Charlemagne AOC is located behind (north/northwest) the commune of Aloxe-Corton. The commune itself has had a long history dating to its time as a 3rd-century AD

Marseilles to Autun. It was known then as Aulociacum but over the centuries the name eventually evolved into Alossia, Alussa, Alouxe and then, by the turn of the 17th century, it was known as Aloxe. In 1862, the name "Corton" was appended to the name in reference to the notable Le Corton vineyards that already had wide recognition. The name Corton was a corruption of Curtis d'Orthon meaning Domaine of Otho in reference to the first-century Roman emperor.[7]

Vineyards were recorded on the hill by 696 AD though it very likely that they were planted much earlier.

Saracens
in 731.

Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne who, as King of the Franks, gave the hill of Corton to the abbey of St. Andoche.

According to legend, Charlemagne noted to the Abbey sections of the slope where the snow melted first and ordered that grapevines be planted on that slope. His orders were followed and the hill of Corton was planted first entirely with red grape varieties. Some time later, Charlemagne's fourth wife, Luitgard, was said to be displeased with red wine drippings on the white beard of the king and ordered that a section of the hill be pulled up and replanted with white grape varieties—a section that is today known as Corton-Charlemagne.[5][11]

Though written records have noted acclaim for the white wine from the region as early as the 8th century, the early 19th century wine writer André Jullien made no mention of any white wine being made in Corton in his 1816 catalog of wine regions Topographie de tous les vignobles connus. However, Chardonnay is believed to be the "pinot blanc" mentioned by Dr. Jules Lavalle in his 1855 work on the terroir of the Côte d'Or, Histoire et Statistique de la Vigne de Grands Vins de la Côte-d'Or. In this work Lavalle noted that Pinot noir was planted on the middle slopes and lower ground of the Corton hill while "pinot blanc" was found on the higher slopes—an arrangement that is roughly the same as the vineyard plantings on the hill today.[5]

Geography and lieu-dits

At the very top of the hill of Corton are the densely covered woodland known as the Bois de Corton. On the slopes just below the woodland, most of the clay topsoil has eroded away leaving a narrow band of

oolitic limestone mixed with marl. This band of limestone, which has a radial exposition of 270 degrees stretching from the east-facing lieu-dits of Bassess Mourottes and Hautes Mourottes above Ladoix-Serrigny to down south and west to northwest facing lieu-dits of Le Charlemagne above Pernand-Vergelesses, is most suited for white wine grape varieties and have historically been the source for Corton-Charlemagne wine.[7]

Further down the slope, the

ammonite fossil material that is most suited for red grape varieties. Here is found the lieu-dits of the Corton AOC though some vineyards, such as Le Rognet et Corton, Les Renardes, Le Corton, do have segments that overlap with the limestone band of Corton-Charlemagne. However, these vineyards, along with the Mourottes, are planted predominately with Pinot noir but the few Chardonnay plantings that do exist are permitted to be called Corton-Charlemagne.[7]

The lieu-dits responsible for the majority of Corton-Charlemagne are Le Charlemagne, Les Pouget and Les Languettes.[10]

Climate and viticulture

The top of the hill of Corton is heavily wooded with Chardonnay planted on the upper reaches of the slope where the soil is mostly limestone. Further down the slope as the proportion of clay increases, Pinot noir is more likely to be found.

As part of the Burgundy wine region, the hill of Corton shares the same

body and richness to them.[7]

As Chardonnay

rootstocks were introduced.[7]

Beyond spring frost, the other viticulture hazard that growers have to worry about is

court-noué (also known as roncet) which is a virus transmitted from vine to vine by nematodes that causes the vine to develop small leaves with short internode segments. This can impact a vine's ability to receive adequate foliage coverage to capture the sunlight needed to complete photosynthesis. Another hazard that Chardonnay is particularly susceptible to is oidium/powdery mildew.[7]

The Chardonnay vine has a tendency to produce excessive foliage which can hamper the ripening process with the vine diverting more energy to its leaves than to producing

growing season in leaf-pulling and removing excess shoots.[7]

Wine grapes

Chardonnay is the only permitted grape in the AOC wines of Corton-Charlemagne.

Today the only permitted grape in Corton-Charlemagne is Chardonnay. However, its presence on the hill is a relatively recent occurrence. Until the end of the 19th century,

field blends of indigenous grape varieties rather than the single grape of Chardonnay that both regions are known for today.[7]

In Corton-Charlemagne, Chardonnay is valued for its ability to adapt to a variety of soils and

acidity levels of the grape drop too much which can made a wine that is excessively flabby on the palate.[7]

AOC regulations and production figures

A Corton-Charlemagne wine from Louis Latour.

Wines

alcohol level of 12% by volume.[12]

In 1998, the combined Corton-Charlemagne and Charlemagne grand cru contained 51 hectares (130 acres) that produced 2325 hectoliters of Grand Cru white wine.[5] By 2008, those figured changed only slightly with 52.44 hectares (129.6 acres) of vineyard surface being in production within the AOC producing 2,237 hectoliter of wine, corresponding to just under 300,000 bottles.[6]

Charlemagne AOC and Corton blanc

Out of the three Grand Cru AOCs that make up the hill of Corton, the Charlemagne AOC is the least used of these, as the majority of growers have elected to use the Corton-Charlemagne AOC for white wines from vineyards that are entitled to both appellations.[13] In 2008, only 0.28 hectares (0.69 acres) of the En Charlemagne vineyard surface was in production for Charlemagne AOC, producing a total of 7 hectoliters (essentially three barrels worth of wine).[6]

Similarly, white wines made from lieu-dits primarily used for Corton AOC (approximately 2 hectares (4.9 acres) of Chardonnay producing around 88 hectoliters of wine) can be labeled as Corton-Charlemagne or as Corton blanc.[5]

Wine

Corton-Charlemagne from négociant and vineyard land owner Louis Latour.

Master of Wine

aging before they are drinking at their peak. Coates note that the wines from the Pernand-Vergelesses side tend to have a flinty note and be characterized by more austerity than those from the Aloxe-Corton side that can be slightly more firm and full-bodied.[5]

Wine writer Tom Stevenson describes Corton-Charlemagne as "the most sumptuous of all white Burgundies" with rich buttery and fruit flavors and notes of cinnamon, vanilla and honey.[8]

Growers and producers

Like most

négociants who combine it with the produce of other parcels to make a single Corton-Charlemagne wine.[5]

Among the owners of a 16 hectare section of Corton-Charlemagne that falls within the boundaries of the Aloxe is Hospices de Beaune and Maison Louis Latour while Bonneau du Martray owns a large part of the 19 hectare section along the Pernand-Vergelesses section with Domaine Comte Senard also having significant holdings.[5]

References

  1. ^
    Journal Officiel de la République Française (25 October 2011). "Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine contrôlée "Corton-Charlemagne""
    (PDF) (in French). Retrieved 26 March 2013.
  2. ISBN 0-7513-0793-9
    .
  3. S2CID 95243588
    .
  4. ISBN 1-84533-036-6
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 0520220935
    .
  6. ^ a b c BIVB: Les Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée de Bourgogne, accessed on November 3, 2009
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1402778827
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 9780756686840
    .
  9. ISBN 1-84000-704-4
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 9780198609902
    .
  11. ^ Schamberg, Anne (1 March 2013). "A lesson on Burgundy wine is simpler than it sounds". Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
  12. ISBN 1-55297-720-X
    .
  13. ^ "Corton-Charlemagne, appellation Bourgogne". vins-bourgogne.fr. 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.[permanent dead link]

47°04′18″N 4°51′20″E / 47.07167°N 4.85556°E / 47.07167; 4.85556

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Corton-Charlemagne&oldid=1177175365"