Wine Advisor
Genot Boulanger, Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2018
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru offers peaches and cream on the nose. It is nicely defined, with moderate complexity and not much in the way of mineralité. The palate is balanced with a sappy entry, fine acidity and good weight. Yet, it lacks a little tension and complexity on the finish. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 white tasting.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru was bottled in May alongside the Folatières, as they wanted to keep them longer in tank. It delivers on the promise of last year’s showing with beeswax and citrus lemon notes, although it might just have closed up a little since bottling. The palate is vibrant and energetic, very smooth in texture, offering lovely white peach, almond and white Chinese tea notes toward the finish. I suspect that this will surpass the 2019.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru comes from the Le Charlemagne lieu-dit, the 0.30 hectares oriented west. It has an attractive, pure bouquet of citrus lemon, passion fruit, orange blossom and beeswax aromas that gain intensity in the glass. The palate is crisp and taut on the entry, with a fine bead of acidity, and quite saline. I would like a little more depth and volume toward the second half in order to reflect this Grand Cru, though the spicy finish is appealing. Give it two or three years in bottle. Very fine.
Reviewed by: Neal Martin
The 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru comes from the Le Charlemagne lieu-dit, the 0.30 hectares oriented west. It has an attractive, pure bouquet of citrus lemon, passion fruit, orange blossom and beeswax aromas that gain intensity in the glass. The palate is crisp and taut on the entry, with a fine bead of acidity, and quite saline. I would like a little more depth and volume toward the second half in order to reflect this Grand Cru, though the spicy finish is appealing. Give it two or three years in bottle. Very fine.
About the Producer
The Domaine began its history as the life-long dream of two Parisian pharmacists, Charles-Henri Génot and his wife Marie Boulanger, that was realised when they moved to Meursault and purchased vineyards in Mercurey in 1974. They began to gradually build up the Domaine with further acquisitions in the Côte d'Or including Meursault, Volnay and Chassagne. In 1995 the Domaine expanded again into the Côte de Nuits, Corton and Aloxe-Corton Clos du Chapitre. By 1998 Francois Delaby had inherited 22 prime hectares of vineyard area in Burgundy. He was joined by daughter Aude and son in law Guillaume Lavollée who, in turn, took over the running of the Domaine in 2008, becoming the fourth family generation of the estate's history. Aude and Guillaume were clear on their mission from the off - to produce wines that express the complexity and finesse of their great Burgundian terroirs - recognising the quality of the vineyard to be the most important factor to get right. So they began their tenure by concentrating on viticulture and the health of the soil, starting conversion to organic farming - a process that ended with full certification in 2018. Winemaking follows a non-interventionist approach. For reds whole bunches are included during fermentation to a small degree when appropriate, or equally berries are completely de-stalked depending on the vintage. Fermentations are with indigenous yeasts and extractions are gentle. The wines are aged with 20% new oak barrels for 12 months followed by 6 months ageing in tank.