2005 Le Corton

The Bouchard 2005 Le Corton – from very chalky parcels in the Ur-Corton as it were, just below the forest – offers aromas of cedar, spice, and smoked meat, a rather austere but certainly well-concentrated palate impression, and a bit of blockage by tannin. This seems to have been caught at a very awkward stage today. Managing director Stephane Follin and cellar master Philippe Prost preside over a remarkable new, gravity-fed winemaking facility capable of handling the fruits of Bouchard’s 130 hectares of vines – Burgundy’s largest estate (with 84 hectares in premier and grand crus alone) – not to mention the enormous range of wine from purchased fruit or wines. Fully 40% of the reds are vinified in open-top fermenters with manual punch-downs (the balance in a battery of roto-fermentors) and the system of traffic control alone that must be in place during crush is hard to imagine. The underground acreage devoted to barriques similarly defies imagination – until one sees it. Prost was very cautious with pigeage this year, but incorporated a significant percentage of whole clusters with stems in many of his better lots. A reputation for improved quality is being built here to which the results of 2005 will certainly contribute. I suspect that a number of the wines I tasted had not recovered from their recent bottling, hence the number of “+?”s one sees displayed following my scores. (Wines from the Domaine are designated D on the list above.) Also recommended: 2005 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Lavieres D ($30.00; 86), 2005 Monthelie Les Duresses D ($35.00; 84), 2005 Monthelie Clos des Champs Fulliot D ($35.00; 85), 2005 Beaune 1er Cru “Beaune du Chateau” D ($45.00; 86+?), 2005 Beaune Marconnets ($35.00; 86+?), 2005 Volnay Taillepieds D ($55.00; 85+?), 2005 Pommard 1er Cru ($45.00; 84+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges ($55.00; 85), 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin ($35.00; 86), 2005 Vosne-Romanee ($35.00; 85), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Porrets St.-Georges ($55.00; 86+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Damodes ($55.00; 86+?). Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY

(from four different parcels blended together) Dark red. Wild black cherry and smoked meat on the rather closed, medicinal nose. Then almost surprisingly fat and sweet in the mouth, with a fine grain and intriguing suggestions of toast and gingerbread. This is still quite closed but its volume is already impressive. Finishes with substantial fine, dusty tannins and a minty austerity. Evolving very slowly and tricky to judge today.

Nose is already subtle and complex: perfumed sweet meatiness of (someone else’s) marijuana smoke. Intense fruit on the mid palate. Plenty of oak but well integrated and not dominant. Tannins firm like a bale of silk. Fruit aromas fill the mouth and linger wonderfully. Great burgundy. (JH)