2019 Corton Charlemagne
Buying options
Tasting notes
Poured blind, the 2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has a very attractive bouquet with dried honey, white peaches, apricots and touches of beeswax. There is still a touch of oak to be assimilated, yet there is focus and precision here. The palate is very well balanced with fine depth, not the most complex Corton-Charlemagne, though it exudes purity with a caressing and lightly spiced finish. Lovely. Tasted at Le Benaton in Beaune.
Critic scores
Average Score
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Neal Martin, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Pale to mid yellow. A welcome reductive character – welcome in this flight of possibly over powerful wines – and a delightful, fresh character. Quite tightly wound, with definite citrus on top of white fruit, and good length. In the end, a middleweight but pleasingly typical Corton-Charlemagne with a persistent finish.
Here too the nose is quasi-Chablis like with similar nuances of iodine, mineral reduction and oyster shell along with a variety of citrus influences. The sleek and almost painfully intense broad-shouldered flavors flash plenty of minerality on the dense, muscular and bone-dry finale that leaves zero doubt that this will need extended patience if you're to see it at its peak. This youthfully austere effort has length to burn and it's not every day that you encounter a Corton-Charlemagne that can go head to head with a great Chevalier but this one can.
Produced from purchased grapes, the 2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is serious and structured, enforcing a change of pace after the series of Puligny-Montrachet grands crus. Mingling notes of pear and citrus oil with hints of toasted bread, white flowers and praline, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and chalky, with palpable structuring dry extract and tangy balancing acids.
About the producer
Based in Meursault and farming some of the finest vineyards in the Côte de Beaune, Henri Boillot is a leading address in Burgundy. He crafts fine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but the estate is best known for its flagship monopole vineyard, Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Clos de la Mouchère.