Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru from Bonneau du Martray reveals a youthful nose of citrus zest, white flowers, tart pineapple and struck flint, framed by some spicy new oak. On the palate, this full-bodied wine reveals tension and definition that it seemed to miss in barrel, its glossy attack now backed by a nicely chalky structure and a deep, properly reserved core. This will need some time in the bottle to integrate, but its evolution is very promising, and while this is unusually rich and concentrated those qualities don't come at the expense of terroir.
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Decanter
The Corton-Charlemagne is quite an ample, large-scaled wine this year, with a bouquet of confit citrus, green apple, white flowers and pineapple, framed by creamy oak vanillin. There is nice grip on the deep, full-bodied palate. There are parallels with the 2009, though the 2015 seems to be a touch more powerful and concentrated at this early stage.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Prevailing over the charming village of Aloxe, the hill of Corton actually commands the entire appellation. Corton is the only Grand Cru for Pinot Noir in the entire Côte de Beaune. Its Grand Crus red wines can be described simply as “Corton” or Corton hyphenated with other names. These vineyards cover the southeast face of the hill of Corton where soils are rich in red chalk, clay and marl.
Dense and austere when young, the best Corton Pinot Noir will peak in complexity and flavor after about a decade, offering some of the best rewards in cellaring among Côte de Beaune reds. Pommard and Volnay offer similar potential.
The great whites of the village are made within Corton-Charlemagne, a cooler, narrow band of vineyards at the top of the hill that descends west towards the village of Pernand-Vergelesses. Here the thin and white stony soils produce Chardonnay of exceptional character, power and finesse. A minimum of five years in bottle is suggested but some can be amazing long after. Fully half of Aloxe-Corton is considered Grand Cru.