2009 Le Corton Blanc

The 2009 Corton Blanc flows with mint, flowers, light honey and pears. It is a classy, understated wine that impresses for its balance and polish. Bright, floral notes reappear on the finish, adding brightness and lift.

The 2009 Corton Blanc flows with mint, flowers, light honey and pears. It is a classy, understated wine that impresses for its balance and polish. Bright, floral notes reappear on the finish, adding brightness and lift. Anticipated maturity: 2014+. This is another stunning set of wines from proprietors Mounir Saouma and Rotem Brakim. Saouma and Brakim practice some of the most risk-taking winemaking in Burgundy, especially with regards to elevage. The wines see extended aging on the lees with minimal sulfur. I tasted the 2009s in late June 2011. At the time the wines had never been racked. Readers should note that I accidentally omitted a number of wines from my reviews of the estate’s 2009 reds, in particular the wines from Vosne-Romanee. Those notes are now posted on the site. My tasting concluded with two wines served blind. These turned out to be two 2004 Meursaults. The first wine was made with a pneumatic press and aged with 4 liters of lees per barrel, the second wine was made with a mechanical press and went into barrel with 8 liters of lees. Both wines were aged 18 months and bottled by hand. As it turns out, wine #2 was considerably fresher and much more nuanced than wine #1. Importer: Vintus, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (919) 769-3000

Pale yellow. High-pitched perfume of cool stone, lavender, violet, lemon zest and white truffle oil. Then surprisingly silky in the mouth but with terrific lift to the tactile flavors of dusty stone, medicinal herbs and flowers. Wonderfully complex, sexy, ineffable wine with great soil complexity but little in the way of exotic character. The malo here is finished. My range may prove to be conservative.