The Hidden Hill of Corton, source of some of Burgundy's best whites
There's something strangely familiar about the hill of Corton. You approach it along the A321 road north from Beaune, or south from Dijon, and all of a sudden it's impossible to miss the densely packed cluster of trees at the summit of the hill - the ceremonial hat of a Buddhist monk, the spiky mullet of an 1980s rock star.
Whether you lean towards rock or religion, the vines that head down from the trees mark out the appellation of Corton-Charlemagne and some of the great white wines of Burgundy in the shape of bottles from Bonneau du Martray, Faiveley and Coche-Dury.
These are the essence of clarity, steeliness, minerality, verticality … but priced accordingly. Luckily, the Corton hill is a microcosm of Burgundy itself - by which I mean it is maddeningly complicated but endlessly enticing. On it and around it lie the wine-growing villages of Ladoix-Serrigny, Aloxe-Corton, Pernand-Vergelesses and Savigny-lès-Beaune, and all are able to claim a slice of the hill.
It means that even in this hallowed spot, there are corners - where vines lie on north-facing slopes and on the lower foothills - where you can kid yourself that you are a pioneer, still able to uncover affordable and little-known bottles from this most famous of mountain rises.
The village of Pernand-Vergelesses offers the best chance of uncovering one of these. Like so many in Burgundy, it is made up of a motley collection of narrow dusty streets, red-tiled roofs, crumbling limestone crosses, statues of Madonna and child, all encased by dry stone walls, crammed into a corner of the hill deemed superfluous to viticulture. The magic happens behind closed doors, and out in the fields behind. It is the village where the mythic Bonneau du Martray cellars are found, and many of the winemakers own or rent a few vines of Corton.
More interestingly for the treasure hunter, it is also the only commune along the Côte d'Or to make both red and white wine on all four levels - grand cru, premier cru, village and regional. This reflects the fact that Pernand-Vergelesses is found at the meeting point of three valleys giving a variety of expositions and altitudes. The whites, in particular, develop a delicacy and finesse that are worth driving for, and nowhere more so than on a tiny "hill within the hill" known as la colline de Frétille. Where the peak of the Corton hill is covered in forest, here the hilltop is lower but flatter, offering a sumptuous plateau of chardonnay vines.