Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A linear and tight Corton-Charlemagne with a sliced-apple, lemon and dried-mango character. Full-bodied, compact and racy. Needs two or three years of bottle age.
Barrel Sample: 94-95 -
Wine Spectator
Intense and spicy, with a core of peach, apple and mineral flavors driven by the bracing acidity. Builds to a long, lingering aftertaste focused on the mineral element, but also echoing fruit and spice notes. Shows terrific length and potential. Best from 2020 through 2038. 50 cases imported.
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.
A classic source of exceptional Chardonnay as well as Pinot Noir, the Côte de Beaune makes up the southern half of the Côte d’Or. Its principal wine-producing villages are Pernand-Vergelesses, Aloxe-Corton, Beaune, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet.
The area is named for its own important town of Beaune, which is essentially the center of the Burgundy wine business and where many negociants center their work. Hospices de Beaune, the annual wine auction, is based here as well.