Wine Advisor
Jacques Prieur, Corton Bressandes Grand Cru 2016
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2016 Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru comes from two parcels, the older parcel whole bunch and the younger destemmed. It has a fragrant bouquet, the stem addition very discrete, fresh with bright blueberry and and blackcurrant fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with supple, ripe fruit, succulent with good acidity and volume, tapering in a little toward the finish but that will open up with bottle age. Give this three years in bottle at least.
Reviewed by: William Kelley
The 2016 Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru is still quite youthfully reticent, unwinding in the glass to reveal a rich bouquet of ripe cherries, cassis and blood orange that's complemented by enticing carnal hints of grilled and smoked meats. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and velvety, with a succulent but gourmand core of fruit that entirely cloaks its broad-shouldered chassis of powdery structuring tannins, concluding with a long, nicely defined finish. There's sufficient extract here, so this Bressandes may well shut down; a decade's patience is advised.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
(no frost here; this site was picked after the Chambertin in 2016, on October 3 and 4, with potential alcohol of 12% and a yield of 35 hectoliters per hectare): Bright, dark red-ruby. Brisk aromas of black cherry and licorice accented by black pepper and pungent minerality. The sappy flavors of small wild red berries and spices are quite primary but with its suavity and sweetness this young wine already shows considerable early appeal. This distinctly airy Corton grand cru finishes with firm but fully ripe tannins and lovely lingering spiciness. My style of Burgundy.
About the Producer
HISTORY Domaine Jacques Prieur's mythical story started on February 24th, 1868, with the wedding, in Bligny-les-Beaune, of Claude Duvergey (22 years old) and Marie Taboureau (19 years old). Marie was born in Bligny in 1848 and Claude in Meursault in 1845. Their parents were winegrowers. Claude founded the Duvergey-Taboureau House and thrived in the wine and spirit trade, without investing directly, at first, in viticulture. In 1879, he acquired the property of "Les Herbeux" in Meursault, current heart of Domaine Jacques Prieur... and started buying vineyards. He then made a risky bet with the arrival of the terrible phylloxera in Côte d'Or. However, his choices would finally make him a visionary thanks to the use of American plants as cure. In 1889 he acquired the famous Clos de Mazeray Monopole (Meursault), a parcel of Volnay Santenots, 4.5 ha (11 ac) of Clos Vougeot and 2 lots in Chambolle-Musigny. In 1890 he became the sole owner of the prestigious Clos des Santenots in Volnay, 1.5 ha (3.7 ac) of Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes and 0.45 ha (1.1 ac) of the mythical Montrachet (notably supplemented by the "Dent de Chien" parcels in 1891 and 1892). He then ran his trade business in the Château de Bligny bought in 1890 for his wife. Without any direct heir, both spouses would turn to the Taboureau family side. Thus they married in 1891 Hélène Taboureau (Marie's niece) and a well-born young man from Beaune, Henri Prieur (itinerant salesman). They benefited from a very advantageous marriage contract including some goods but especially the promise of a profit-sharing in the Duvergey-Taboureau's trade. Jacques Prieur was born on January 31st, 1893, from the union of Hélène and Henri. The estate kept growing in 1895 with a new acquisition in Musigny and a swap between a plot of Clos Vougeot and parcels of Chambertin and Chambertin Clos-de-Bèze. In 1899, Claude Duvergey added Volnay Champans to its collection and in 1907, Chevalier-Montrachet. He died on March 9th, 1920, and bequeathed all of his property to Jacques Prieur (his wife remaining stakeholder). Soon after, the latter married Madeleine Darnat, daughter of sheets merchants from Lyon. In 1924, Jacques Prieur and comte Jules Lafon instituted the famous "Paulée de Meursault" in order to celebrate the end of harvests with all winegrowers from the village. Marie Duvergey-Taboureau died in 1935 and definitely left the estate to Jacques Prieur. Co-founder of the legendary Chevaliers du Tastevin, he gave his name to the estate in 1956. He died in 1965 and his wife in 1974, leaving the winery to their 6 children. In 1988, in order to avoid selling the winery to foreign shareholders, 5 important French families united, among them Labruyère Family, winegrowers and entrepreneurs from South Burgundy. In the 1990s the Grands Crus of Corton-Bressandes and Corton-Charlemagne would enrich the mosaic of terroirs of the estate. Today leading this jewel of Burgundy, Labruyère Family, supported by Prieur Family's heirs, promotes and defends, every single day, the great terroirs of Burgundy, worldwide
