Xavier Durand calls it his best keeping wine. Made from grapes grown on the Corton hill, this Pinot Noir displays animal and robust qualities that reflect the marly clay and thick heavy soil of the lieu-dit.

• 

  Deborah Adeyanju

  A distinctive, youthful nose suggests talc, red fruit, cloves, minerals, and baking spice. Good balance between somewhat angular tannins and tart fruit that suggests both precision and power. Packed with red fruit and mineral. A big, full-bodied, robust wine.

  Food pairing: Red meats

Xavier Durand calls it his best keeping wine. Made from grapes grown on the Corton hill, this Pinot Noir displays animal and robust qualities that reflect the marly clay and thick heavy soil of the lieu-dit.

• 

  Colin Talcroft

  A rich, fruity, evolving nose makes this wine immediately appealing. Scents of dark cherries and herbs rise out of the glass, the herbal scents gradually tending toward anise. On the palate, displays vibrant fruit with well-balanced acidity and healthy tannins. Very nicely balanced, with a structure that suggests good things to come.

  More open now than its stable mate (the 2012 Aloxe-Corton Les Chaillots), but, like that wine, likely to reward cellaring. The kind of wine I like to buy by the case and try at intervals over several years.

  Food pairing: Duck; roasted chicken dishes; rabbit or other game; mushroom or lentil dishes

Grown like Boutières on the Corton hill, but on redder soils that elicit more substance and finer tannins from the Pinot Noir grapes, Les Chaillots is the more feminine and subtle of Domaine Durand’s two Aloxe-Cortons.

• 

  Deborah Adeyanju

  Talc, floral scents, and mushroom aromas shape the nose. Offers red fruit flavors—both tart and ripe—with light spice notes on a delicate frame. Medium body. Likely to be more approachable in 2016–2017.

  Food pairing: Heavier (red) meats

Grown like Boutières on the Corton hill, but on redder soils that elicit more substance and finer tannins from the Pinot Noir grapes, Les Chaillots is the more feminine and subtle of Domaine Durand’s two Aloxe-Cortons.

• 

  Colin Talcroft

  Delicate fruit and floral scents with just a hint of spice in the background, evolving after time in the glass toward toast, wood, and dark cherry mixed with mineral and herbal scents. Somewhat closed on the palate at first but with an attractive mouthfeel and a veiled but noticeable richness. Light tannins. Moderately long finish, marked by fuller fruit flavors and more apparent acidity, promises significant improvement after some cellar time. Likely to reward patience.

  Food pairing: Duck; roasted chicken dishes; rabbit or other game; mushroom or lentil dishes