With 7 hectares leased, this could become their highest production wine. Presumably they will ramp up over time, but they could hit 1800-2000 cases. That is approximately a 20 percent increase from overall current production. Who wants to guess how much this bumps pricing for BdM and the other producers?
Same thing was said about bumping prices when they started making their Corton. Hard to tell if prices have elevated because of DRC or just a general rise in prices (my guess is just a general rise and not because of DRC).
Increasing Coche prices haven’t risen the price on Bouchard or BdM…I don’t see this having a big effect on CC prices overall.
BdM has already soared in price with new owners. 7 hectares can be 2700 cases or more. Wow. Guess the DRC Corton experiment paid off—and it didn’t affect other Corton pricing.
It’s 7 acres leased, less than 3 hectares. So probably about 1100 cases.
Oh goody - another entry level DRC. Will be interesting whether they will be able to hit home runs straight away.
More likely to do so that with their Corton red, which is not really very exciting…
It’s my understanding that this has been like 10 years in the making. There were rumors as far back as 2008 that when DRC began the buyout process with Florent de Merode that part of the plan was to also make white wine.
I suppose that you know already that DRC will do with a part of Bonneau du Martray what it did with the Corton of Prince de Mérode.
The successor of Bernard Noblet will take care of the making of the Corton Charlemagne for some 3 hectars among the 11 hectars of the Corton Charlemagne of Bonneau du Martray.
What is not specified is why there are going to be two strategies for the CC.
It shows the dynamism of Aubert de Villaine.
Sorry if the news was already on this forum.
I knew I had seen that name, Prince de Merode, somewhere before! Just found the bottle in the cellar.
third rate stuff in that era.
Finally, an affordable DRC entry point!
The official story is that the Biodynamic winemaking was very difficult:
Unofficially, though, there is a very wealthy American, named Stan Kroenke, who is involved in this, and I would not be surprised if Kroenke were trying to forge a strong working relationship with de Villaine and the LeRoy sisters.
at least this is a much more interesting proposition than the corton
Biodynamics is only as difficult as you make it.
Todd,
Aubert de Villaine has begun the biodynamic process at the beginning of the 80ies without telling that he was beginning this process.
And he has never declared that he was in this process and never said that he had achieved it.
In the beginning of the 10th so 30 years later he told that his domain was fully in biodynamic process and said : “now we are able to make wines nearly as good as what our ancestors did”.
I loved it because it is my belief.
I believe that the most important factor in Biodynamics has nothing to do with all the hocus pocus, but instead it’s the total focus on building up a healthy soil biota. Good dirt goes a long way.
I hear that refrain often, but I wonder with vine roots in burgundy submerged 15-20 feet below the surface how important is the top layer of soil? To answer my own question, I suspect you are suggesting that the biology in the top soil impacts the health of the above ground portion of the vines.
After the first five feet we are talking decades of good stewardship, but you don’t have to be BD to do so.
When Aubert de Villaine took the winemaking of the Corton Prince de Mérode, he said that the work in the vineyard and on the vines would take around 7 years to give results.
He does not talk about being certified, but to work properly.
Today, the three appellations of Corton are worked together, but his intentions are to produce soon three different Corton, vinified separately : Clos du Roy, Renardes and Bressandes. It is the wish of Aubert.
We can imagine that in 7 or 8 years, the Corton Charlemagne ex-Bonneau du Martray will have the personality of DRC wines. If it is worked as is worked their Batard (not talking of the Montrachet), it will be competing with Coche-Dury.