Philippe Pacalet Aloxe Corton 2021 750mL

Philippe Pacalet's Aloxe-Corton 2021 is a village red from the foot of the Corton hill, made in his light-handed, whole-bunch style. The year was small and cool, and the wine is fragrant and red-fruited rather than heavy.

About This Wine

Aloxe-Corton sits at the base of the Corton hill, and village fruit here tends to give supple, perfumed Pinot with a firm edge. 2021 was shaped by frost: cold arctic air settled over the Côte d'Or from 5 April, and after two nights with temperatures as low as minus 8°C much of the crop was gone. Red wine volumes fell to roughly half of normal. What survived ripened slowly through a damp summer, giving medium-bodied reds with moderate alcohol and plenty of freshness.

Tasting Profile

• Nose: Red cherry, cranberry and wild strawberry, with rose and a little spice from the stems.
• Palate: Supple and lively, with bright fruit, fresh acidity and light, fine tannin.
• Finish: Clean and floral, with a savoury mineral touch.

Serving & Food

Serve at 14 to 15°C, a shade cooler than most reds, in a medium Burgundy glass. Open it a while ahead or give it a quick decant, since his wines can show a slight spritz when young. Drink now to around 2030 with roast chicken, char siu, or grilled salmon.

How to Enjoy

Relaxed dinners and drinkers who prefer freshness and perfume in red Burgundy.

Product Details

About the Maison

Pacalet comes from a wine family with a vigneron ancestor recorded in 1780, and he is a trained oenologist who specialised in native yeasts. He was also a protégé of Jules Chauvet, the Beaujolais scientist and taster whose ideas underpin much of today's low-sulphur winemaking.

Those two strands meet in his cellar. Every red is fermented with whole clusters and native yeasts, and the caps are worked by foot. The wines then rest on their lees in oak that is mostly second or third fill, without racking, for around 14 to 18 months depending on the year. Sulphur is kept low throughout.