Wine Advisor
Bonneau du Martray, Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2012
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The sample of 2012 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru was taken from tank. It had been racked in September and was resting on the fine lees and will be racked again in January. The malolactics were delayed and only finished towards the end of August. It has a very subtle bouquet with hints of chalk, gunflint and citrus fruits – almost Chablis-like in terms of delineation and personality. The palate has a marine-influence on the entry, traces of seaweed, plus a tingle of zesty fruit on the side of the mouth. It is tender and airy towards the finish with traces of lemon sherbet lingering long after the wine has departed. The red grand cru is no longer distributed into the United States since the previous importer declined their allocation. Not the greatest business decision since Jean-Charles has pulled it up by the scruff of its neck in recent years by lowering yields and fine-tuning the vinification. It has been three years since I last drove up the steep lanes of Pernand-Vergelesses to visit Domaine Bonneau du Martray. As the heavens opened, I hoped that proprietor Jean-Charles de Bault de la Moriniere (no, I never use his full name in casual conversation either) had fixed the problem of an underground spring that I recalled leaking down his cellar walls, lest barrels of Corton-Charlemagne find themselves bobbing down to the RN74. Jean-Charles had not changed a jot since we our last tete-a-tete, tall and aristocratic in demeanor, loquacious and convivial to a fault, he is the gentleman of Charlemagne. As a significant owner of precious vines on the famous historical Corton hill, specifically the largest holding in “En Charlemagne” that was a prime target for hailstorm, it can be safely said that Jean-Charles has not had a stress-free time. Let’s put a figure on that: 75% of his crop was lost after not one, but two devastating hailstorms. At least other producers have some kind of insurance policy in owning a scattering of parcels so that if one plot of vines suffers hail damage, another will be unscathed. With just two grand crus, Corton-Charlemagne and Corton Rouge, Jean-Charles can only look forward to, is recompense next year. In these situations, one can find solace in the old adage: less is more. “I find the Corton-Charlemagne to be a substantial wine. It is almost like the 2010 with a slightly richer character,” he comments with utmost equanimity. Importer: A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Atlanta Wholesale Wines, Atlanta, GA; tel. (404) 696-9440; C’est Vin, Arlington, VA; tel. (703) 243-3559, Scott Paul Wines, Oregon; tel. (503) 852-7300, Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, Louisiana; tel. (504) 897-0191 and Martin Scott (NY)
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2012 tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru from Bonneau du Martray was showing signs of reduction on the nose but it is not as combined as I might have feared. The palate has a touch of bitterness on the entry, disjointed compared to its peers and yet Bonneau du Martray is often like that in its youth, coming together with bottle age. I scored this quite severely and yet one could still detect a great wine in the making, albeit one of the next decade, not this.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Bright yellow with green highlights. Explosive aromas of ripe peach, crushed stone, lavender sea salt and spices. Wonderfully rich and broad without any excess weight, with strong acidity and crushed-stone minerality leavening the fine-grained flavors of orange cream and fleur de sel. Best today on the slowly building, refined finish, which leaves the mouth vibrating with stone and white grapefruit. This wine appears to be shutting down in bottle, which de la Morinière notes is typical for his Corton-Charlemagne after a year or so. Outstanding potential here: I may be underrating this wine today.
About the Producer
Located in Pernand-Vergelesses in the Cote de Beaune region of France, Domaine Bonneau du Martray has a thousand-year-old vineyard and is the only Burgundy winery to produce only Grand Cru wines. The vineyards of Château Matelay currently cover over 11 hectares, of which 9.5 hectares are planted for the production of Chardonnay from Corten-Charlemagne, while the remaining area of the vineyard with more fertile soils is devoted to Pinot Noir, a Corten wine of steadily improving quality. The average age of the vines in the vineyard is 45 years. The owner, Joan Charles, has also introduced asexual propagation in the vineyard to replace the tired vines. Château Martlet produces only two wines, a white wine from the Corten-Charriman vineyard and a red wine from the Corten-Charriman vineyard. The white Chardonnay from the Corten-Charriman vineyard is a rich, thick wine with intense ripe fruit flavours, the best of all Chardonnay whites. The Colten Charlemagne white Chardonnay from Château Matelay is the best of the best. Fortunately, despite the excellent quality of the white wines produced here, they are affordable and offer excellent value for money. These wines are the result of the gift of nature meeting the perseverance of generations.
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