Corton Perrières 2023 Larue | Burgundy

The secret of the unique identity of Domaine Larue 's Corton-Perrières Grand Cru lies in its very name. On the eastern slopes of the Corton hillside, the prestigious climat des Perrières is home to ancient limestone quarries. The Comblanchien limestone substrate of this luminous, rock-formed terroir not only ensures perfect drainage for the vines planted by the wine estate in 1946, but also imposes on the Pinot Noir roots a quest for depth that translates into a particularly upright tannic structure. Halfway up this sloping hillside, between the Languettes and Grèves climats, Domaine Larue tends its 15-acre parcel with exacting viticulture and manual tillage, sometimes using a caterpillar or a horse. In July, the vines are thinned out by hand and the internodes removed, allowing better aeration and more even ripening of the bunches. Disease control is organic, and hand-picking is followed by careful sorting on a vibrating table and then on a conveyor belt. The bunches are then partially destemmed, the proportion varying from 30 to 50% whole bunches, depending on the balance of the vintage. After a short cold maceration and fermentation lasting almost 3 weeks, the wine spends 18 months on its lees in barrels, half of which are renewed each year.

Philippe Mischler, sommelier at Mundovin : Domaine Larue 's Corton-Perrières Grand Cru surprises with its elegant structure and delicate aromatics, far from the image of the sometimes massive Corton. By avoiding massive extractions and opting for measured ageing in partially renewed oak barrels, the wine estate succeeds in infusing the terroir into the juices, which retain the energy and salinity of the limestone bedrock of this Corton Grand Cru. This is an undeniably soulful wine!

The first nose is strikingly noble, marked by the intensity of ripe black fruits and fresh violets. Floral freshness dialogues with notes of cold stone, pencil lead and graphite, typical of the limestone essence of this Corton Perrières Grand Cru. Aeration blends the depth of wild blackberry, blackcurrant and black cherry with heady notes of licorice, sweet spices and fine leather. But what's striking here is the purity of the aromatics: no woody blush masks the brilliance of the fruit, which seems to hang from an omnipresent mineral framework.

On the palate, you're won over by the finesse of the texture and the quality of the tannins, enveloped in a silky substance. The palate is juicy, carried by the remarkable energy of noble acidity. A discreet woody imprint blends beautifully with the floral, spicy, almost smoky complexity of the mid-palate. The finish is a lesson in persistence, stretching out on notes of black berries and a mineral afterglow that coats the palate with its superb salinity.