Tollot-Beaut Corton Bressandes Grand Cru 2016 (750ML)

95 WS / 93 DE / 92 BH / 92-94 VM / 91-93 WA

Very pure, exhibiting black cherry, black currant, violet, earth and black pepper aromas and flavors, this red is solidly built, with toasty oak and wood spice elements emerging on the long finish. Best from 2022 through 2042. 400 cases made, 50 cases imported. - BS, Wine Spectator

The Bressandes reveals a warmer and less wild bouquet of creamy red fruit, anise and liquorice, compared to the Corton. This is followed on the palate by a fuller-bodied, more voluminous wine in a more expansive register, its taut structural tannins more immediately cloaked in fruit. - Decanter

An overtly toasty nose also evidences ample menthol influence that once again fights somewhat with the relatively high-toned aromas of red cherry, violet, spice and warm earth nuances. As is usually the case, the mouth feel of the equally broad-shouldered flavors is finer thanks primarily to the more sophisticated tannins supporting the sleek yet serious, saline and sneaky long finish that is also youthfully austere and markedly toasty. This too is going to require at least some patience to more completely harmonize and eat its considerable oak treatment. Allen Meadows – Burghound

(aging in one-third new oak, like the Corton; the yield here was about 40 hectoliters per hectare): Bright, dark red. Restrained nose suggests dark fruits, licorice pastille, spices, bitter chocolate and cedar, with a pungent mineral quality emerging with aeration. A sophisticated Corton grand cru with subtle intensity and complex accents of crushed stone, salty minerals and flowers. Penetrating but not hard. Finishes with subtle rising length, the firm tannins tightening up with air without going dry. Nathalie Tollot noted that this wine went through a very oaky phase but today the wood is playing a supporting role. Stephen Tanzer – Vinous Media

Matured in one-third new oak, the 2016 Corton-Bressandes Grand Cru was unaffected by frost this vintage. There was some reduction on the nose when I tasted this from barrel. Bypassing the aromatics, the palate has good density and body, the new oak a little elevated as the fruit was closing down, but there is a fine line of acidity and a lovely, spicy finish that feels long and persistent. Maybe the Le Corton has a little more precision? Still, this is very fine, if just a little “bigger boned” than its sibling. Neal Martin – The Wine Advocate