2015 Aloxe-Corton Village

After a difficult 2014 growing season, in which the estate lost one-quarter to one-third of its crop owing to the late-June hailstorm, 2015 was “a very good year with a lack of water,” said Nathalie Tollot. The estate’s vines in Savigny-lès-Beaune Lavières suffered the most in 2015 and the family pulled up the one-third of the vines that were planted during World War II, which were in especially bad shape due to frost and hail. The estate has a replanting program aimed at maintaining an average vine age of 35 to 40 years, noted Tollot.

The 2015 harvest took place between September 3 and 9 with grape sugars at 13.5% or higher—14.5% for the Bressandes! Tollot-Beaut does not normally vinify with whole clusters but as of 2014, the estate can transfer their sorted grapes into the fermenter without crushing them, which Tollot says allows for better preservation of fruit. No cold soak is done here, and total time on the skins is only about 12 days, with two pigeages carried out daily for five or six days during the active part of the fermentation.

Tollot told me that she can't compare 2015 with any past vintage due to the high alcohol of the wines, but emphasized that the estate could not have harvested earlier due to a lack of phenolic maturity. She now describes the vintage as “very good,” adding that she is “afraid to be more optimistic for a vintage with hydric stress.” She’s still concerned about the tannins and the high alcohol levels. “Certainly the wines will take a long time to be drinkable,” she concluded.