Pierre Girardin : Corton-Charlemagne Grand cru "La Croix" 2021

Tasting Notes and Serving Tips for Pierre Girardin’s Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru "La Croix" 2021

Tasting

Appearance

A pale straw-yellow hue with gently golden highlights coats the wine, characteristic of great Burgundian Chardonnays from cool vintages.

Nose

The bouquet reveals fine aromatic complexity, with notes of tropical fruit, hazelnut, and grapefruit. Nuances of white-fleshed fruits such as peach and pear mingle with citrus touches, notably lime. A mineral and floral dimension harmoniously rounds out the whole.

Palate

On the palate, the wine unfurls remarkable concentration and controlled power, balanced by striking freshness and acidity. The structure is taut and compact, with pronounced minerality that faithfully reflects the limestone soils of the appellation. The palate combines fullness and elegance in a sophisticated balance, steering away from excessive richness in favor of a more linear, precise expression. The finish lingers at length, letting the mineral and fruit components resonate.

Food and wine pairings

This Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru "La Croix" 2021 pairs beautifully with fine shellfish such as lobster and langoustines prepared with butter- or cream-based sauces. It also elevates delicate white fish such as monkfish, sole, turbot, and halibut, whether grilled or pan-seared. Bresse poultry and sweetbreads make excellent matches. Truffle-based dishes, notably a truffle risotto, offer an exceptional gastronomic pairing. For cheese, opt for aged comté, époisses, or roquefort.

Serving and cellaring

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru "La Croix" 2021 is best enjoyed at a temperature between 10 and 14°C. It is recommended to let this wine rest for at least five years in the cellar before opening, to allow full integration of its components and the development of tertiary aromas. This wine has significant aging potential and, under good storage conditions, can evolve gracefully through 2046.

A full-bodied white Grand Cru from Burgundy with beautiful vibrancy

The estate

Domaine Pierre Girardin was established in 2016 in Meursault by Pierre-Vincent Girardin, representing the thirteenth generation of the family’s winegrowers in Burgundy. At just 19 years old, Pierre made his first vintage in 2017, drawing on 4.5 hectares of vineyards inherited from his father, Vincent Girardin, who had carefully retained these exceptional parcels when selling his estate in 2011. Today, the property spans thirteen hectares across the Côte de Beaune and produces wines renowned for their purity of expression and faithful reflection of terroir. Pierre Girardin manages his vineyard according to organic and biodynamic principles, with meticulous attention paid to every detail of both viticulture and winemaking.

The vineyard

The Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru "La Croix" comes from specific parcels located in the communes of Aloxe-Corton, Pernand-Vergelesses, and Ladoix-Serrigny. These vines, over seventy years old, occupy the upper sections of the Corton hill, between 280 and 330 meters in altitude, on steep slopes angled at 20–23%. The soils are made up of limestone marls in yellow, ochre, and brown tones, resting on limestone strata covered by a fine layer of rendzina. This limestone-richness gives Chardonnay its hallmark balance of richness, acidity, and minerality. The Corton-Charlemagne appellation covers around 60 hectares and produces exclusively white wines classified as Grand Cru.

The vintage

The 2021 vintage presented major challenges in Burgundy, with a catastrophic frost in April that lasted several days and caused significant damage across many parcels. The growing season was overall cool, with less sunshine than in previous years. Despite these difficult conditions, rigorous producers succeeded in crafting wines of remarkable quality. The coolness of the vintage helped preserve acidity and aromatic finesse, while frost damage naturally reduced yields, concentrating aromas in the surviving grapes.

Winemaking and aging

The grapes for the Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru "La Croix" 2021 are harvested by hand and then transported quickly to the winery. After an extended horizontal pressing of around three hours, the must is transferred directly into barrels without settling. Fermentation occurs naturally thanks to indigenous yeasts. The wine is aged for twelve months in 456-liter French oak barrels specially designed to limit contact between the wine and the wood. No lees stirring is carried out in order to preserve aromatic freshness. After barrel aging, the wine spends an additional eight months in stainless-steel tank before bottling, carried out without fining or filtration.

Grape variety

100% Chardonnay