Posts Tagged Corton Charlemagne
Grand Cru Burgundy extravaganza… Is it worth it?
Posted by eatbikelove in Wine Tasting Notes on December 8, 2013
Ahhh Burgundy, the reference point of all pinot noirs. What is it about this region that makes its wine so intoxicating and so alluring? Is this a temporary infatuation or is this permanent love?
Frankly, Burgundy is a very complex region to understand. Not only are there so many different villages, there’s also the different grading of vineyards within the same village… and we haven’t even begun talking about the producers yet. Yes there are the famous producers such as DRC, Leroy, Rousseau, Mugnier which I think you need to be a billionnaire or win the lottery to be able to afford and drink nowadays (burgs being the latest Chinese craze is adding fuel to the fire) but somehow I doubt these wines score highly in the quality to price ratio. Which is why I jumped when I was presented with an opportunity to taste some of these Grand Cru wines at a specially held dinner by BBR. Since we are talking Grand Cru here, I have also taken the opportunity to add some of my other GC Burgundy drinking notes.
The wines for the dinner was shown in pairs by region, Corton Charlemagne for the whites, Musigny for the first red flight followed by Clos Vougeot.
First the pair of Corton GC
Benjamin Leroux Corton Charlemagne 2010 GC
Nose: Lovely showy nose. Honey, white flowers, pear and a hint of butterscotch
Taste: A lovely balance with a good velvety texture. Full bodied and relatively fruit forward.
Finish: A lovely 20 sec+ sweet finish
Patrick Javilier Corton Charlemagne GC 2010
Nose: Mineral with a hint of white flower. This nose is a lot more subdued when compared next to Leroux
Taste: Light medium bodied, fine acidity with minerality lingering . A more classic style
Finish: 20 Sec light finish
As the night wore on, the wine began to open up more and the fruits then decided to come out to play…
Mugnier Le Musigny GC 2007
Colour: Light red ruby
Nose: Compact and very herby. Red fruits with a hint of Asian spice.
Taste: Light to medium bodied, strong acidity but a good structure. Hint of pepper and asian spice
Finish: 20 sec finish which I felty was a tad short given the quality of the producer and the vineyard.
This wine is light with good structure. One can just about taste the red fruits but they were quite subdued and required time to open up. Is this wine worth £400 a bottle???
Domaine De la Vougeraie Le Musigny GC 2007
Colour: Deep red colour
Nose: Sweet red fruits, hint of cassis and vanilla
Taste: Medium bodied with a good velvety texture, good fruit length.
Finish: 25 second sweet tannic finish.
A lovely wine which I actually prefer over Mugnier’s
Meo Camuzet Clos Vougeot GC 2002
Colour: Dark Red with a hint of purple
Nose: Hint of vegetal dryness, red and black fruits with a hint of cassis
Taste: Good and velvety smooth texture. Medium Bodied and feels a bit hollow towards the end.
Finish: Shorth-ish 15 sec finish.
Meo Camuzet Clos Vougeot GC 2000
Nose: Hint of Vanilla, red fruits and boiled sweets
Taste: Good velvety texture, red fruits with a hint of Asian spice. Ezxcellent balance.
Finish: 25 seconds of gorgeous fruity tannins.
What a lovely wine. I was surprised that I prefered this wine to the 2002 and also to the Musigny’s. My WOTN.
The following notes were from subsequent dinners which I was lucky enough to saviour some excellent GC burgundies.
Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne GC 2008
Nose: White fruits, white flowers and honey, hint of minerality and butterscotch.
Taste: Light medium bodied with good fruit following through. Low acidity and good balance
Finish: 20 sec finish
Grivot Richebourg GC 2006
Nose: very dense nose, raspberry, hint of blackcurrant, black cherries, violet and vanilla
Taste: medium full bodied, good acidity, dense fruit with an excellent balance. Sweet tannins
Finish: 30 second finish of concentrated fruits and sweet tannins
A lovely wine. Shame it is so ridiculously expensive!
Tasted Nov 2013
Colour: Dark red, very youthful even though it has been in bottle for over 7+ years
Nose: Black cherries, blackberries, hint of Vosne spice and vanilla. Very young wine.
Taste: Good balance, medium bodied with good structure. The fruit was a bit subdued by the lovely tannins.
Finish: 30 sec+ Finish.
A lovely wine but it obviously needs another 5 years to bring out the monster inside!
In conclusion to the opening question, is Grand Cru burgundy worth it? It ultimately boils down to a matter of choice and personal judgement. The wines are very good but for the big name producers, the pricing of late has just been stratospheric. Having said that, the fun and beauty is to try and find quality GC wines from the lesser well known producers and revel that one has picked up a bargain by getting very good juice at a fraction of the price of the famous producers. Now that is definitely one of the reasons why I LOVE burgundy!
New kid in the burg… with prices to match
Posted by eatbikelove in Producer Wine Tasting on June 4, 2013
Olivier Bernstein…a young star that has recently been rising in prominence in Burgundy. What is interesting is that Olivier has managed to amass a selection of very good burgundy vineyards in a very short space of time and he is not originally from Burgundy, an area where tradition and history carries a significant amount of weight. I had the luxury and good fortune to meet with Olivier when he made a short stop in Hong Kong in February 2013 and I must admit, his wines are GOOD! The wines do represent the terrior but unfortunately these come at a price! As always, a tasting is always the best opportunity to decide for myself if these wines are worth it so with no expectations (other than for a good evening) I went along to try Oliviers wines.
There were 8 wines to taste that night as follows:
2008 Puligny-Montrachet, 1er cru Champ-Gains
2009 Corton Charlemagne
2007 Chambolle-Musigny, 1er cru les Lavrottes
2007 Gevrey-Chamberin, 1er cru Les Cazetiers
2008 Gevrey Chambertin
2008 Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er cru Les Champeaux
2009 Charmes-Chambertin
2009 Clos Vougeot
Even better, I got to seat right next to the great man and as a result got to know him and his wines better.
Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t long before we filled up the entire table with glasses. What a sight.
In my honest opinion, Olivier’s wines are good. However, whether I would realistically pay the price he charges for a bottle of his wines is debatable. Perhaps the wines might justify such a high price tag in the future when they age more and develop more complexity. I hope to be able to retaste them at a later date and hope they become even better!
Colour: Pale Straw yellow
Nose: white flowers, hint of violets. Revisited after 2.5 hrs and there were hints of coconut and honey
Taste; slight acidity, good length, hint of minerality
Finish: 20 second finish
Colour: Again pale straw yellow. I was expectign more depth of colour given it was a Grand Cru but maybe it was too young.
Nose: White fruits, fruity and hint of oil. After 2.5hrs, secondary flavours were introduced and you could smell the oiliness of the wine.
Taste: Lemon peel, smooth texture, white flowers, hint of minerality. A lot more concentrated and fruity.
Finish: 30 second finish
Nose: red fruits, very floral
Taste: Red fruits, good balance, slight acidity, hint of vegetal dryness but not overall the fruitiness was still dominant and flamboyant.
Finish: 25 second finish.
Nose: mix of red and black fruit. Hint of cassis, good nose and concentration, hint of vegetal nose
Taste: acidic, tannic and dry on palate. Less concentrated on palate than on the nose. This wine feels more auster when tasted next to the Chambolle 1er. This however, made it great with wagyu steak.
Finish: 30 second finish,
Nose: good perfume, red fruits,
Taste: Very good fruit, good balance,
Nose: 15 second finish of joy
One of the best wines of the night as I think now is the perfect window for this wine whereas the 1er and GC should still be sleeping.
Nose: red fruits, hint of vanilla,
Taste: good balance, smooth texture, red fruity, slight acidity
Finish: 20 second finish,
Nose: good red fruit, slight vegetal, roses
Taste: Good balance, red fruits, slight acidity but really nice as it is opening up. A very good Charmes and definitely the better GC tonight
Finish: 30 second finish
Nose: red perfume, velvet, slight vegetal,
Taste: a bit thin and diluted, good perfume and balance, slight acidity
Finish: 25 second
This wines seems to have all the great ingredients but somehow felt lighter and diluted than the othe Clos Vougeots that I have tasted. Perhaps the wine is way to young to taste at this stage and should put on more weight after another 5 years in cellar.
Winston's Wine World 
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