White Burgundy

wines

Enjoyed over dinner in Burgundy after tasting many truly lovely wines, this wine could erase your memory of anything else. It is a riveting tour-de-force, with a medium lemon-yellow colour and heady, incredibly forward aromas of ripe orchard and stone fruit with exotic spices, butter, and a bit of oak. There is fresh acidity, plenty of body and extract, and incredible finesse and elegance as well. The combination of youthful fruit, fresh acidity, and robust density carry this wine to an interminable finish.Decanter | 100 DECThe 2014 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is a wine that leaves you lost for words - never helpful in this profession. It begs the question: Why are not all Corton-Charlemagnes like this? It has a stunning bouquet with a profound mix of yellow plum, Mirabelle, Seville orange marmalade, those liquid minerals and later, scents of cold wet limestone. The palate is incredibly powerful with stunning acidity. There are multiple layers of spice-tinged citrus fruit, just a faint tinge of marzipan, wondrous umami sensation in the mouth with grilled walnut and a hint of pralines towards the finish. This represents an astonishing Corton-Charlemagne that might end up touching the imperious 2005. Readers should note that Raphael told me that the release of this will be delayed, just like the 2005 and 2010. Put it on your wish list and wait.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 99 RPThe 2014 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru was the first time I had tasted the wine in bottle after first sampling it at the domaine. It is more open than expected and displays less reduction than the 2005 tasted alongside, offering penetrating citrus peel, lanolin, crushed limestone and fragrant yellow flower scents. The palate is beautifully balanced with razor-sharp acidity and an extraordinarily saline, praline-tinged finish that electrifies the senses. It flirted with perfection in 2016 and it is still within a whisker now. Tasted at Otto’s restaurant in London.Vinous Media | 99 VMA still somewhat reticent nose grudingly speaks of discreet wood, smoky mineral reduction, petrol, green apple, white rose and spice elements. In the same vein as the nose, the dense and well-muscled broad-shouldered flavors are still moderately tightly wound while delivering an abundance of minerality on the massively persistent, highly complex and perfectly well-balanced finish that is quite dry yet not especially austere. This is sufficiently backward at present to need continued cellaring even though with say 30 or so minutes of air in a decanter, it could be approached. With that qualification duly noted, I would strongly advised holding this unicorn of a wine for another 5ish years. In a word, OK, two, absolutely brilliant.Burghound | 98 BH

The 2020 Montrachet Grand Cru is brilliant, uniting all the breadth and plenitude of which this vineyard is capable with all the work that’s been quietly going on at the domaine to bring greater precision and integration to the white wines. Exhibiting extravagant aromas of honeyed orchard fruits, confit peach and green mango mingled with hints of nutmeg, freshly baked bread and buttery pastry, it’s full-bodied, satiny and broad shouldered, remaining vibrant and dynamic despite all its heft and weight, and revealing its chassis of chalky structuring extract as it opens in the glass. It concludes with a long, resonant finish.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 100 RPA mid lemon yellow colour. A completely different beast to the Corton-Charlemagne. A spectacular bouquet almost in what it doesn’t display as much as in what we can see. “The Montrachet shows the titles of the chapters but no text as yet”, suggests Bertrand de Villaine. Discretion on a grand scale. The palate has all the intensity you would hope for but leaves you space. Retasting the 2020 Montrachet after the Corton-Charlemagne again, the fruit comes out more, adding a dimension in the middle which does not affect the whole. An absolute baby which could become, will become, a classic Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet. Drink from 2030-2050. Tasted Oct 2022.Jasper Morris | 99 JMThe Montrachet was picked on 5 September, and Bertrand noted that they were the last grower to pick here and were all alone in the vineyard. The Domaine has long pursued its singular vision of Chardonnay; co-director Perrine Fenal noting that ‘ripe Chardonnay was very Aubert’. Despite the rich, lush character of this wine there was no trace of heaviness. The wine was dense with buttery, spicy tropical fruit, but the genius of Montrachet is to be the richest white wine in the world, and this vintage was a dizzying success that should last for fifty years. 3,539 bottles produced.Decanter Magazine | 98 DECA more subtle though still easily perceptible application of oak still easily allows the markedly spicier and prominent petrol scents to be appreciated. The exceptionally rich, concentrated and impressively constituted broad-shouldered yet refined flavors display outstanding power and drive on the focused, firm and hugely long finish. This is an opulent Montrachet but one that is clearly built to repay extended keeping. One of the great wines of the 2020 vintage that should age and improve over the next 30 to 40 years. In short, this is positively brilliant.Burghound | 98 BHThe 2020 Montrachet Grand Cru is elegant, airy and so expressive. It reminds me of vintages such as 2001 and 2004, Montrachets that favored precision and freshness over volume or exotic richness. Hints of lemon confit, marzipan, white flowers and tangerine oil all grace this exquisite, mid-weight Montrachet from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. I went back to the 2020 numerous times during this tasting and witnessed it open beautifully with aeration and time in the glass.Vinous Media | 96 VM

An unusually bright, light-gold color with hints of green in it distinguish this rare wine from the first glance before rich, layered and complex aromas lead to even richer poached pears, hazelnuts and cream on the palate. Full-bodied but light on its feet, the wine shows deft balance, great depth and incredible length on the finish. Best from 2028.James Suckling | 100 JSDrouhin’s Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche is always a classic expression of Montrachet, and often among the best ’bargains’ from this site. The 2022 has exotic aromas of ripe peach, nectarine, green apple and hints of acacia flowers, star anise, and beeswax. The texture has the weight of the vineyard and a creamy opulence, yet there is enough freshness to carry the wine to a charmingly persistent finish. The grapes from the Laguiche holdings are from five parcels totalling just over two hectares, picked in three passes by the Drouhin team. (Drink between 2030 - 2070)Decanter | 96 DECStill on its fine lees. A fine fresh very pale primrose colour. Super discreet nose, just offering some light floral notes at first, but you know there is so much more to come. It is not over exuberant but the fruit comes across the palate in little wavelets, perfectly balanced acidity, the oak subsumed into the intensity of the fruit. The 2022 Marquis de Laguiche Montrachet bows out with a wonderfully long and fine finish. Drink from 2034-2045. Tasted: November 2023.Jasper Morris | 96-98 JMThe 2022 Montrachet Marquis de Laguiche Grand Cru was harvested in three picks this year. Exhibiting aromas of pear, peach, honeycomb, toasted nuts, baking spices and buttered toast, it’s full-bodied, ample and unctuous, with a richly layered core of fruit, lively acids and a long, resonant finish. Tasted from a barrel sample before an aerating racking, it displayed fine tension.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 94-96 RPSmoky notes of mineral reduction add breadth to the cool and airy nose of mildly exotic white peach, citrus confit and a plenitude of floral wisps that are trimmed in discreet oak influence. The refined medium weight flavors possess good if not genuinely special density but with a positively gorgeous texture that carries over to the stony bitter lemon zest finale that possesses stunningly good length and terrific complexity. This is very classy and a wine that I suspect will add weight with bottle aging.Burghound | 93-96 BH