2015 Corton Le Rognet

Bright full red. Complex, expressive scents of wild strawberry, raspberry, dried flowers, spices and earth. Dense, saline and sweet, with its strawberry, underbrush and smoky mineral flavors giving it surprising early seductiveness, but this wine has the concentration and backbone to evolve slowly. Very long and flavorful on the aftertaste. (ST)

Noticeable if not dominant wood frames the overtly sauvage and earthy red and black currant aromas that are trimmed in plenty of spice and floral nuances. The mouth feel of the big-bodied flavors is incredibly rich thanks to the abundance of sappy and tannin-buffering dry extract that coats the palate and imparts a velvety texture, all wrapped in a hugely persistent finish where a touch of bitter cherry pit arises. While the mid-palate of this broad-shouldered effort is seductive, this is very clearly built-to-age and should certainly benefit from extended keeping.

The 2015 Corton Le Rognet Grand Cru comes from marn soils around 50 meters from Corton Bressandes. It has a deep, more saturnine bouquet compared to Bruno Clavelier's other 2015 barrel samples, sous-bois scents filtering through the dark berry fruit, later a subtle pepper scent, almost akin to Spanish padron peppers! The palate is medium-bodied with chewy tannin, plenty of sappy red berry fruit (cranberry, raspberry and pomegranate) with a structured and quite grippy finish. Perhaps a little rustic in the scheme of things, nevertheless, it has plenty to offer in the long-term.