Our friend Bok hosted this lunch tasting at his place dedicated to the Corton Charlemagne grand cru, a white made it quite large quantities but somehow does not seem to show up much in the circles we usually drink with. Time for a comparison.
Flight 1: Bonneau du Martray
In line with sufficient first-hand experience this is a very unreliable label and one I wouldn’t recommend to anyone unless the vintage is before 1995. The rate of advanced and oxidized bottles is truly unaccepable. I have witnessed failure rates of up to 80% within the same case where provenance was certainly not an issue.
The wine of the flight was the 1995 which was in all fairness decently balanced: voloptuous but complex and caught in the right drinking window. The 1994 was actually not bad for the weak vintage with a soft mature character although performing at 1er cru level at best. The 2005 had everything I dislike about the vintage: big, onedimensional and overripe with some oxidation thrown in for good measure. The 2002 was very advanced with thick baked apple and clumsy oak notes. Good if you run out of sherry for the sauce.
Unworthy of Burgundy grand cru status. The more land they sell off or rent out to others, the better.
Flight 2
A sigh of relief went through the room when this flight was tasted blind after the utterly disappointing first flight of Bonneau du Martray.
4th place: Bonneau du Martray 1990. Both half bottles of this 1990 were off, one corked and one very dusty. A pity as I did have it from a half bottle only two years ago and that was showing like a five year old wine. From the same case. Again, the inconsistency is disturbing.
3rd place. Henri Boillot Corton Charlemagne 2008. And that says a lot about the stiff competition as I find this producer a very good buy for this plot. Don’t think this is necessarily their strongest vintage as the malic acid note (commonly found in many 2008s) gives it a certainly harshness. I do believe it to soften with another five to ten years as extended aeration did seem to suggest.
2nd place: Hospice de Beaune Corton Charlemagne Cuvée François de Salin 1990. A shamelessly oldschool white burgundy expression from a hot year with loads of tropical fruits on both nose and palate. Round, viscous with pineapple, dried mango, honey and notes of botrytis. The opposite of modern clean high acid reductive wines but I can’t help myself associating this with a comforting warm bath.
1st place: Drouhin Corton Charlemagne 2008. It is no secret that I am very fond of Drouhin whites and this was seriously off-the-scale brilliant. Lots of producers struggled to get this vintage’s balance right and this was just spot on. Amazing array of perfectly ripe orchard fruits with an exotic edge, ginger, clove and sweet and sour calamansi lime essence. Can be easily confused for a truly grand Montrachet expression. Sensational.
Flight 3
Not quite up to the level of the previous flight but some interesting bottles nonetheless. Bouchard’s Corton Charlemagne is always a solid and good value buy for this plot. Was quite surprised when label was revealed as it showed a more flashy and full bodied character I would expect from this producer and the 2007 vintage. One to put away for a while.
Verget Corton Charlemagne 2009 is also a wine that often overdelivers for its pricepoint. This 2009 wouldn’t rank among my favourite vintages of this producer though. It was bit heady without too much finesse or length.
The lesser known Domaine Rollin’s Corton Charlemagne 2001 was actually my favourite this flight, a strong vintage for this specific appellation. Admittedly it showed some advanced characters but the mild oxidative notes were well balanced by dried tropical fruit and honeyed flavours. I guessed it at least a decade older but it’s always nice to drink a fully mature wine. Even more so for a very slowly developing wine like Corton Charlemagne which seem to need 20+ years to peak.
Flight 4
4th place: Louis Latour Corton Charlemagne 1996. A consistently underwhelming producer unless you go back to the 80s and earlier. Unbalanced with unpleasant sourness and insufficient ripeness, a total letdown for such a good vintage.
3rd place: Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne 1998. The good thing is that the bottle condition was fine. Slightly overripe apple fruit profile with a fairly fat midpalate and a finish that lacks a touch of liveliness.
2nd place: Antonin Guyon Corton Charlemagne 1989. This managed to keep its cool in this hot vintage. Fruit profile surprisingly showed some citrus notes which a smoked salt and leesy undertone. Without any context I would have guesses this to be an aged Chablis. A bit short in fruits but not bad at all.
1st place: Dubreuil-Fontaine Corton Charlemagne 1992. A lesser known but fine estate from Pernand-Vergelesses that produces very ageworthy wines. Amazingly complex and mature nose of dried mango, pineapple, apricot marmalade and candied ginger. Pristine palate with unadulterated tropical chardonnay fruit and a nice acid line to provide enough freshness. The 1992 white burgundy vintage is the gift that keeps giving despite the reputation of its supposedly short life due to insufficient acidity. I often feel that similar invalid points are made around the 2009 and 2015 vintages which I think will still be very good in twenty years provided the absence of premox. Surely, you need to zoom in on the better producers and the better plots but that’s generally a good idea when it comes to Burgundy.