Domaine Follin-Arbelet Aloxe Corton 1er Cru 'Clos du Chapitre'

While Franck Follin-Arbelet might seem quiet and unassuming, the intensity of his wines speak louder than words. He grew up in Burgundy's famous Cote d'Or, and his family had vineyards, but they were all rented out to share croppers, and they did not make their own wine. After marrying his wife Christine from the famous Latour family, Franck came on board at his father-in-law's estate in Aloxe-Corton.

Franck took over the estate in 1993, and today, the winery is recognized as one of the best in the appellation. His 1er Cru Clos du Chapitre is from a 0.95 hectare site with plantings going back to the mid-1960's. Like all of Franc's wines, it is fermented slowly in open-top wooden vats with indigenous yeasts, and it is bottled without fining or filtration. Pure and intense, stony and mineralic, this is a powerful Red Burgundy with a long life ahead of it.

'Discreet but not imperceptible oak influence is present on the more sauvage-suffused aromas of plum, red currant and pungent earth. There is a finer texture to the tension-filled and lightly stony medium-bodied flavors that conclude in a rustic, serious, compact and sneaky long finale. This is very Aloxe in character.' - Burghound