Critic ratings
vinous
2015
Rating:
90
–90
The 2015 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has a comparatively austere bouquet that remains stoic in the glass, offering crushed stone, red apple and touch of orange pith. Attractive, but I would have liked to see more energy. The taut, linear palate is well balanced, with a fine bead of acidity, and the brisk, slightly saline finish offers a sense of energy and focus. Allow this another two or three years in bottle, as it has more to give. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting. (DIAM 30 closure)
vinous
2015
Rating:
93
–93
Medium yellow. Very spicy but youthfully subdued on the nose. Plush, silky and concentrated, with its strong dry extract giving the wine an impression of solidity. Highly concentrated citrus and ginger flavors are complicated by a saline mineral element. Plenty of alcohol here yet this grand cru comes across as quite suave, with its fat leavened by firm, harmonious acidity. Finishes round and horizontal.
vinous
2015
Rating:
92
–95
Bright yellow. Licorice, crushed stone, lime and wild herbs on the nose, lifted by hints of quinine and ginger. Tactile, savory and intense, conveying terrific crushed-rock mineral definition for the vintage. Wonderfully concentrated and long, without any impression of weightiness. This wine represents a blend of 45-year-old vines and vines planted in 2007. Production here was 35 hectoliters per hectare, according to winemaker Brian Sieve.
vinous
2018
Rating:
87
–87
The 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has an attractive bouquet with beeswax, touches of orange pith and quince, nicely focused and poised. The oak is well-integrated. The palate is well balanced with a slightly waxy-textured entry. It has very good depth but with high VA that renders it like a natural wine on the finish. Bit of an oddball. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 white tasting.
vinous
2018
Rating:
92
–94
The 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru comes from a south-facing parcel and sees a little less new oak than the Chevalier-Montrachet. It has a more Zen-like bouquet than the Chevalier-Montrachet, which goes against type considering the vineyards in question. The lightly spiced palate is well balanced with a fine saline entry and good weight toward the lemongrass-tinged finish, which feels persistent and satisfying. Good potential.
vinous
2014
Rating:
94
–94
Bright yellow. Very ripe aromas of lemon oil, grilled nuts, toasted bread and brown spices. Fat, rich and very ripe, with mineral and spice flavors accented by lemon zest, lime and lavender. This initially struck me as weightier and less classic than the 2015, but the wine's strong spine of stony acidity gives it terrific penetration and really frames and extends the fruit on the long finish. Still, this big, smooth wine is showing beautifully today. Winemaker Sieve notes that the south/southeast exposition of the vines gives this wine a crunchy fruit character along with considerable weight.
vinous
2014
Rating:
92
–94
Pale, green-tinged yellow. Exhilarating aromas of apple, spearmint, nutmeg and five-spice powder; less reduced on the nose than the Cailleret. Very suave and fine-grained, with soil-driven flavors of fleur de sel, mint and lavender. At once stuffed with material and weightless, finishing very long and dry. About 40% of this wine is from young vines in de Montille's recently replanted Pougets, from which he formerly made red wine.
vinous
2017
Rating:
90
–90
The 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru felt pinched and a little reduced on the nose. However, the palate is built around a fine bead of acidity and good energy. It feels spiky toward the finish and needs more depth and rondeur. Too slight for a Corton-Charlemagne? At least there is freshness, and it does improve in the glass, but it falls below my expectations from barrel. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Savigny-lès-Beaune.
vinous
2017
Rating:
92
–94
The 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru comes from Les Pougets and matures in just under 30% new oak. This has a vivacious and tensile bouquet with orange zest and Japanese yuzu aromas that burst from the glass. The palate is well balanced with a fine bead of acidity, quite taut for a Corton-Charlemagne but it is graced with impressive balance. The spicy finish is welcome. This is a finally crafted Grand Cru.
vinous
2019
Rating:
90
–92
The 2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, which comes from de Montille’s south-facing vineyards, is relatively early-picked. It has a tightly wound nose that has difficulty following the Chevalier-Montrachet (even though that was reduced!) The palate is well balanced with a harmonious entry, slightly waxy in texture as a Corton-Charlemagne should be, although it feels quite linear and strict on the finish.
robert_parker
2018
Rating:
91
–93
The 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru wafts from the glass with notes of citrus oil, fresh pastry, peach and almond paste, followed by a medium to full-bodied, lively and enveloping palate that's quite supple and charming this year. This seems built to drink well in its youth.
robert_parker
2017
Rating:
91
–93
Aromas of green apple, beeswax, lemon oil and white flowers introduce the 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, a medium to full-bodied, nicely concentrated wine with succulent acids, an open-knit mid-palate and a long, stony finish. This bottling derives from a parcel in Corton Pougets that was formerly planted to Pinot Noir and part grafted over, part replanted in 2005.
robert_parker
2017
Rating:
93
–93
The 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is performing well from bottle, revealing scents of green orchard fruit, white flowers, fresh pastry and toasted almonds. Medium to full-bodied, textural and succulent, it's lively and precise, concluding with a delicately chalky finish.
robert_parker
2015
Rating:
90
–92
The 2015 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru has a pleasant citrus, dried yellow flower, mango and basalt-scented bouquet that unfurls gradually in the glass. The palate is fresh and crisp on the entry, a more linear take on the vineyard with good tension, though I would have liked more terroir expression towards the finish. I think it will stretch its wings once in bottle.
robert_parker
2014
Rating:
89
–91
The 2014 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru, which comes from the southeast-facing part of the vineyard in "En Charlemagne," sees a modest 20% new oak. Like its contemporaries, the nose feels a little stunted at the moment...it does not "flow" like de Montille's other 2014 whites. The palate is fresh on the entry with a pleasing malic, green apple seam that lends this Corton-Charlemagne tension, even if it does not quite deliver the material one associates with this vineyard. Hopefully, it will fill out a little during its maturation in barrel.
robert_parker
2013
Tasted blind at the annual “Burgfest” tasting in Bouilland. The 2013 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru felt rather dilute on the nose -- perhaps picked too early? The palate is balanced but lacking real complexity and for want of a better word, the finish feels a little bland. I suspect this bottle had just gone awry and will seek to re-taste at a later date. Tasted May 2016.