Domaine Bonneau du Martray is one of the great names of the Côte de Beaune, almost exclusively known for its outstanding Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru white wine produced from a substantial 9.5-hectare monopole holding on the Corton hill above Pernand-Vergelesses. Since the acquisition of the domaine by Jean-Charles Boisset in 2017, the estate has continued its biodynamic farming philosophy and the meticulous attention to the Corton terroir that made the Corton-Charlemagne one of the most age-worthy and consistently celebrated expressions of that Grand Cru. The Corton Grand Cru Rouge is the rarer and less commercially prominent of the domaine’s two wines, produced from Pinot Noir grown within the Corton Grand Cru zone and vinified with the same precision and restraint that governs the estate’s white wine production. Corton is the Côte de Beaune’s only red Grand Cru, and Bonneau du Martray’s ability to apply its deep knowledge of the hill’s specific terroir character to a red wine of this calibre makes this one of the more intriguing Corton expressions available.

Corton Grand Cru Rouge occupies a distinctive position in the Côte de Beaune red wine hierarchy: a wine of considerable structural weight and mineral depth that requires genuine patience, but whose combination of the hill’s limestone and iron-rich clay with the altitude and exposition of the estate’s parcels should produce a Pinot Noir of unusual concentration and character for the Côte de Beaune. The 2022 vintage was warm and produced wines of good concentration and early aromatic appeal across the appellation, and from a domaine of Bonneau du Martray’s meticulous approach to farming and low-intervention winemaking, the 2022 should be both a pleasurable near-term drinking experience and a wine with structural reserves for medium-term development.

Bonneau du Martray Corton Rouge appears rarely on the market relative to the Corton-Charlemagne, and any opportunity to acquire it from this estate provides access to a genuinely rare expression of Côte de Beaune red wine ambition from one of the hill’s most respected farming operations.

Ruby with a complex and mineral nose of red cherry, dried rose, iron, light spice and the distinctive earth-mineral character of the Corton hill’s limestone and clay soils. Medium to full-bodied with structured, elegant tannins, excellent natural acidity and a long, mineral, precise finish of genuine Côte de Beaune Red Grand Cru character. Best from 2028 through 2042.