05/21/2026
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The Hill of Corton
The two wines in this month's selection come from the same hillside in the Côte de Beaune, separated by a few hundred meters of elevation and a shift in soil. That hillside is the Hill of Corton, and it is one of the most singular and storied pieces of ground in all of Burgundy.
The hill rises to 388 meters, among the highest elevations in the Côte d'Or, and its vineyards wrap nearly 270 degrees around its flanks, covering exposures from east through west across three communes: Ladoix-Serrigny, Aloxe-Corton, and Pernand-Vergelesses. It is the only appellation in the Côte de Beaune to produce Grand Cru red and Grand Cru white wine, and it contains three grands crus within a single topographical unit. Viticulture here dates to at least the 8th century, and the hill's name is thought to derive from Curtis d'Orthon, a Roman estate that once occupied the area.
The most enduring story the hill has to tell involves Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor, who owned land on the slope and planted vines there in the 8th century. He loved the red wines of Corton so deeply that they stained his gray beard, and his wife Luitgarde, objecting to the unsightly tinge, persuaded him to plant white vines instead. Whether the legend is true or not, Corton-Charlemagne has carried his name ever since.
What makes the Hill of Corton so compelling, and what explains why two such different wines can emerge from the same hillside, is the way its soils shift with elevation and aspect. The upper slopes, particularly on the cooler west and southwest-facing side toward Pernand-Vergelesses, are based on hard Oxfordian limestone with a marl-rich surface. These are Chardonnay's soils, sites that produce wines of austerity and exceptional aging potential. Lower on the hill, toward Aloxe-Corton, the slope warms, the soils turn redder, clay content drops, and ferruginous oolite appears in the earth. This is Pinot Noir's territory, and it shows in the wines: richer in color, warmer in fruit, built on a framework of fine tannin rather than the stony tension of the upper slope.
This month's Corton Grand Cru Blanc from Domaine Jean-Marc Pavelot (https://offpremisechicago.com/product/2019-domaine-jean-marc-pavelot-corton-grand-cru-blanc) comes from those upper reaches, drawn from a steep southwest-facing parcel where the shallow marl soils and cooler aspect push Chardonnay toward the austerity and mineral tension the hill is capable of at its best. The Aloxe-Corton Les Vercots Premier Cru from Domaine Follin-Arbelet (https://offpremisechicago.com/product/2023-domaine-follin-arbelet-aloxe-corton-les-vercots-1er-cru) sits lower on the southeastern face, where the soil has shifted and Pinot Noir takes over. Tasted side by side, they tell the story of the hill better than any description could. Drink now or hold.
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