2014 Corton Charlemagne

2014, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, Domaine de Montille Very pale with green highlights. Floral. A little reduction but attractively so. Vibrant, juicy, just ripe enough, plenty of energy, enough oak. A fine example.

Bright yellow. Very ripe aromas of lemon oil, grilled nuts, toasted bread and brown spices. Fat, rich and very ripe, with mineral and spice flavors accented by lemon zest, lime and lavender. This initially struck me as weightier and less classic than the 2015, but the wine's strong spine of stony acidity gives it terrific penetration and really frames and extends the fruit on the long finish. Still, this big, smooth wine is showing beautifully today. Winemaker Sieve notes that the south/southeast exposition of the vines gives this wine a crunchy fruit character along with considerable weight.

The 2014 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru, which comes from the southeast-facing part of the vineyard in "En Charlemagne," sees a modest 20% new oak. Like its contemporaries, the nose feels a little stunted at the moment...it does not "flow" like de Montille's other 2014 whites. The palate is fresh on the entry with a pleasing malic, green apple seam that lends this Corton-Charlemagne tension, even if it does not quite deliver the material one associates with this vineyard. Hopefully, it will fill out a little during its maturation in barrel. || Etienne de Montille was away on one of his many travels when I visited the domaine, but winemaker Brian Sieve was on hand to guide me through both Domaine de Montille and the négoçe label "Deux Montille" (see separate entry for the latter.) "These 2014s have more mineral/saline quality," Brian told me. "In 2014 the growing season was good, fine flowering set us up for a good vintage. If anything, before the hail I was concerned about too much crop for the whites. With respect to the Deux Montille wines, I asked the growers for lees off the press. I want the turbidity to work with the wine in barrel, especially in 2014 where there was beautiful fruit and beautiful lees. I wanted a certain level of matière in the barrel. I need good lees to work with to get the persistence and length. In 2014 there was not a lot of fruit but it was clear.