Corton Grand Cru “Clos des Fiètres” 2022, Petits Champs Lins

Four bottles available. One of the rarest climats on the Corton hill.

Corton is a ring of named climats around one hill, and everyone knows the same three: Bressandes, Clos du Roi, Le Corton. Fiètres is not one of them. It sits toward the lower, southern end of the hill in Aloxe-Corton, and so few growers own a piece of it that in searching we found only two producers bottling it at all.

The site

Clos des Fiètres lies on the Calcaire de Ladoix, the hard stratified oolitic limestone band that circles the hill mid-slope. Light-coloured, well-drained clay-limestone soil over stone, facing broadly south to south-east. It is not the top of the Corton hierarchy and we are not going to claim it is; what it is, is a genuine Grand Cru from a parcel almost nobody sees, at a price the famous climats have long since left behind.

Who makes it, and how they get the fruit

Domaine des Petits Champs Lins is a family estate in Meursault: Jean-Luc Fouquerand, his wife Diane, and their daughters Vick and Clémentine, with seven generations of winemaking behind them. The current domaine was formed in 2008 when Jean-Luc's and Diane's separate estates merged and he built the winery. Nine hectares, roughly half red and half white.

One honest detail: they do not own the Corton. Jean-Luc has explained that the Clos des Fiètres comes through a swap with a friend, trading Chassagne-Montrachet for the Corton allocation. That is how a nine-hectare Meursault family ends up with a Grand Cru, and it is a more interesting story than pretending otherwise.

The details

• Producer: Domaine des Petits Champs Lins, Meursault
• Appellation: Corton Grand Cru
• Climat: Clos des Fiètres, Aloxe-Corton, Côte de Beaune
• Vintage: 2022
• Grape: 100% Pinot Noir
• Alcohol: 13%
• Ageing: 12 months in French oak
• Format: 750ml
• Drinking window: roughly 2026 to 2034, and likely longer given the vintage

No critic has published a score on this wine. At this scale of production that is normal rather than a signal.

The 2022 vintage

The driest, warmest and sunniest year on record in Burgundy, rescued by June rain at double the normal level that refilled the water reserves before the summer heat. Healthy yields in both colours after the frost catastrophe of 2021. The reds came in around 13 to 13.8%, red-fruited and floral, with notably ripe, melting tannins. A generous vintage that drinks earlier than most.

Serving and pairing

Decant an hour ahead and serve at 60 to 62°F. Duck, guinea fowl, mushroom dishes, or aged Comté.

Four bottles, shipped from our Florida cellar in protective packaging. Browse more Burgundy.