Giuseppe Cortese, Barbaresco

In May 2007 I wrote about my first visit to Giuseppe Cortese, the winery above Rabajà. Nineteen years later I came back. In the photos from this visit, the large casks are still there, with new terracotta amphorae in the cellar.

The da Vinci attribution for these glass airlocks is a popular legend, with no known documentary support. The Empoli Glass Museum's curator dates the earliest documentation to 1827-28 in the Giornale Agrario Toscano.

The wines

Giuseppe Cortese Bianco Scapulin 2024
A very interesting mineral character with lighter aromatic character than "standard" Chardonnay. A unique rendering of Chardonnay from Piedmont. Clearly shows how the different soil produces a unique Chardonnay. That's why you won't find Chardonnay on the bottle, as it tastes so different. We loved it! 91.

Giuseppe Cortese Langhe Dolcetto 2025
A lovely Dolcetto. I really love this as a day-to-day wine! Violets, followed by a nutty aftertaste. 88.

Giuseppe Cortese Barbera d'Alba 2025
Elegance and complexity, with a light touch of fruit. Another great example of how you can drink an excellent wine at a reasonable price. Opened a couple of days later with friends from California, they said: "This is unique and local, you can't find something like this in California." 90.

Giuseppe Cortese Barbera d'Alba Morassina 2023
Raspberries, freshness and crispness. Elegance and complexity come together in this Barbera, with an excellent finish. A powerhouse without heaviness, its light spice is very delicate, perhaps pepper and vanilla. 92.

Giuseppe Cortese Langhe Nebbiolo 2024
A different style from a difficult season: raspberry and amazing depth. All the Barbaresco was produced that year, and now you can actually get this incredible value! 91.

Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco 2023
Mushroom and perfumed dark raspberries, quite light bodied with an incredible finish. Excellent quality. 92.

Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabajà 2023
Roses and violets, with added complexity compared to the standard Barbaresco. 93.

Domaine de la Folie - visit & tasting

 Visiting Domain de la Folie was an awesome surprise. We were greeted by Jérôme Noël-Bouton who told us the story of the winery, led us through the excellent wines that are made in the winery and engaged in a vivid and wonderful conversation on various topics ranging from wine to politics and in-between how does it feel when the next generation takes the reins of the winery. 

The winery was founded by Étienne-Jules Marey, the inventor of the chronophotographic gun, who is Jerome's great-grandfather. Now his daughter, Clémence along with her husband Baptiste manage the winery. We tasted two unique offering that this winery makes, that are traditional Burgundy and seem to be less "popular" or "modern": Ratafia and Marc de Bourgogne. 

Ratafia is unfermented grape juice, in this case it is 2/3 Aligoté mixed with 1/3 Marc de Bourgogne. The result is a strong and very pleasing fortified wine. Marc de Bourgogne goes through 30 years of maturation in Barrels and can easily beat some good Cognacs. 

Now to the excellent wines. Jerome shared with us (like other wine makers in Burgundy) that he prefers to drink his wines relatively early, they should be fresh. I agree with him when it comes to whites, but would rather give my reds a couple of years to mature (and sometimes way more than this) in order to show more complexity. 

2020 Clos du Chaigne - This has excellent aromas of honeysuckle, peaches and a flowery scent. It is well balanced and a wine that indeed can be enjoyed now. 

2020 Clos at Jacques - The aromas here are more complex with Apricots, minerals and honeysuckle, it has phenomenal balance with very nice acidity. This is a keeper! A wine that is comparable to "bigger" names and one that can be kept in the cellar for several years.
2020 Rully Cuvee Marey Clos de Bellecroix - We loved this wine, with aromas of cassis, strawberry and a scent of roses, which is well balanced with the oak and acidity this is great to drink now, but will continue and develop in the next couple of year. I'm keeping it for at least another 5 years before touching it.

Visit date: May 13th, 2022

Domaine Michel Mallard

 Visiting Domain Michel Mallard was a real treat. This is a family operation, founded by Michel's grandfather and managed by Michel. He is very passionate about his wines and their terroir. After tasting the wines, we became passionate about them as well!

Michel Mallard

Michel releases the wines several years after the vintage, when they are ready for drinking. While this is beneficial for us - wine consumers - it is great for the winery as it softens the ups and downs in grapes quantity and quality between good and bad years. For example, 2021 was a terrible year, due to frost, more than 50% of the crop was lost. With the practice of selling wines from several vintages at any given time, the downside of the bad vintage will not be too tough on the business. 

The wines are mostly matured in 350 Ltr. barrels, most of them are not new. This leads to a very delicate impact of the oak on the wines.  Michel prefers his wines relatively young, in order to enjoy the fruit and flowers aromas. 

Our Favorite Wines

2018 Ladoix 1er Cru, Les Grechons - One of the best Chardonnays we've had in the last 2-3 years. We felt that this is a top notch expression of the grape. It has a complex and interesting combination of minerals, nutmeg, apples and flowers. The finish is long and excellent. 

2017 Corton Grand Cru Le Rognet - Excellent red, it feels different for a reason: 70% new oak, 75% whole clusters. It feels very flowery, cherries, strawberries and just a slight nut aroma. You can savour this wine for a long time due to it's satisfying finish.

2016 Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru La Toppe au Vert The wine was a bit closed, but the potential was really there with a clear sense of flowers and an excellent finish. It was a clear winner in the game of "Is it worth carrying it back home?".

The Excellent Wines

2019 Ladoix Le Clos Royer Blanc An excellent white (Chardonnay of course). Very appealing aromas of flowers, nuts, peaches and apples with a good, long finish. 

2020 Ladoix Les Buis Aromas of Ink, strawberry. Shows how it's too early to drink and justifies the policy of releasing this in a year from now to the market. 

2019 Ladoix Les Buis Olives, cassis. A really fresh wine with a nice finish. It's an excellent early drinking wine.

2018 Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Les Serpentières Opens with complex spices, cassis and has a clear mineral backbone in it. Very balanced with a long, excellent finish. 

2017 Ladoix 1er Cru La Corvée Has ink, spice and red berries. It is one of the more elegant wines we tasted here.

2017 Aloxe-Corton 1er Cru La Toppe au Vert Red plums, has immense deepness in it. Very satisfying finish

2017 Corton Grand Cru Les Renardes This wine has true elegance, smells like an amazing perfume. It's structure says very clearly: keep me for many years. 

2017 Corton Grand Cru Les Maréchaudes Red currents along with hints of leather and tobacco makes this excellent wine one that I would drink in the next 4-5 years.   

2019 Corton Grand Cru Les Renardes is a very flowery wines with cassis and strawberries. A wine to follow through its development. 

Uccelliera Rosso Di Montalcino 2013

This is a great example of why I love Italian wines. For less than $25, you get a wine that is just great. It goes really well with food, feels sophisticated and is fun to drink. Hard to beat this.

On the nose it has red berries and plums, along with spices. Feels really integrated in the mouth, balanced with the right acidity and just enough tannins to see this maturing during the next 3-5 years.