Vintus

Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru

The commune of Aloxe-Corton, located above Pernand-Vergelesses at the northern end of the Côte de Beaune, has the unusual distin tion of having over half its area covered in grand cru vineyards. These occupy 298 acres divided among 19 climats which take the Corton grand cru appellation for red wines; five among these, totalling 120 acres, take the Corton-Charlemagne grand cru appellation for white wines as well as the Corton grand cru appellation for red wines. The history of Aloxe-Corton is not complete without the contribution of the Emperor Charlemagne. It is known that he owned vines on the hillside above Aloxe, which, in 775, at age 33, he bequeathed to the Abbey of Saulieu in recompense for the destruction of their monastery by the Saracens. At this point in history, most of the vineyards were in red vines, and it is supposedly due to Charlemagne’s wife that the first white vines were planted.

• 2009 Vintage

    There is more talk and interest about 2009 in Burgundy than in any vintage since 2005.  Mounir Saouma has warned us to be careful, however.  He loves this vintage, and in fact believes it is the greatest he has seen in his two decades in Burgundy.   He believes the fruit had everything from the start, and the wines from the beginning were healthy and beautifully balanced.  The major issue was to understand and respect the wines, and avoid working them, since they already had everything they needed in superb balance.  Overly working the wines, he believes, resulted in a loss of freshness and delicacy.  

   2009 is the first vintage at Lucien Le Moine that Mounir did not do any lees stirring whatsoever, and as usual he never racked the wines in their nearly two years in barrel.  He didn’t add sulfur until a few months before bottling, and yet his wines are still completely fresh; some whites he describes as even having a tint of green.  The Lucien Le Moine 2009s across the board are beautifully pure and focused, with the exquisite harmony of truly great wines.

  • "Light medium yellow.  Pungently mineral aromas of pineapple, wild herbs and crushed stone.  On the palate, powerful rocky minerality is perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the vintage.  Much deeper and more layered than the Corton Blanc, not to mention more nuanced.  A wonderfully silky, backward wine that finishes with palate-staining salty minerality." 93-96 Points International Wine Cellar

  •  "An extremely fresh nose of dried rose petal, green apple and spiced pear trimmed in oak toast hints leads to intensely stony, precise and classy big-bodied flavors that possess excellent definition on the attractively sappy finish that really coats the palate while lingering admirably. This is not as dense as the Corton Blanc but not surprisingly, it is more refined and displays impeccable balance." 91-94 Points Burghound

  • "The 2009 Corton-Charlemagne is a striking wine graced with tons of finesse in its understated fruit and sweet, floral notes. It shows gorgeous persistence and plenty of aromatic lift in a layered, subtle style that is highly appealing. The Corton-Charlemagne is made from vineyards in Pernand. Anticipated maturity: 2014+."  93-95 Points Wine Advocate

  • "A muscular white, tough not heavy or overwrought, with apple, peach, lemon and mineral aromas and flavors. Vibrant acidity keeps the flavors focused as this shows harmony and class. Needs time to settle down. Best from 2014 through 2026."  94 Points Wine Spectator

• 2008 Vintage

  There is a big difference in how most people in Burgundy see 2008 and how Lucien Le Moine sees its 2008s.  In a typically unique perspective, Mounir Saouma believes 2008 is a great vintage in Burgundy, one of the greatest of the decade.  2008 was the third in a series of historically normal vintage conditions.  Over the last hundred years, on average the rainiest month in Burgundy has been June and the driest month has been September; rain in the summer is common, occurring more than half the time.  The light, fine skin of Pinot Noir benefits from the freshness in the summer, needs it, and it helps the fat Chardonnay on its way to maturity as well.  The idea that only the “modern” vintage – hot and dry – can be great is a big issue for Mounir.

  In June 2008, within a given week rain always alternated with hot sunny periods.  The results were small bunches of grapes that were getting mature while keeping acidity, and slowly ripening.  Ultimately, there was a naturally low yield, an excellent sign, with 20% fewer grapes than a normal year, providing sweet fruit and high levels of tannin.  Very importantly, Mounir believes that in recent times Burgundy has lost its simplicity to some extent – when you tasted the grapes in 2008, there was no issue with rot.  Most people looked at their vineyards, were terrified of the rot and pressed very lightly to get clean juice, only did short macerations with not a lot of lees, didn’t stir, and then fined or filtered to bottle clean wines. 

  Lucien Le Moine did the opposite.  They pressed hard, bringing a lot of lees into the wine.  To balance the high acidity and some of the unripe bunch areas due to the cool weather, they topped with fine lees every ten days instead of topping with wine.  They did not stir, and so the lees would take a full week to fall to the bottom of the barrel, slowly imparting complexity and richness.  For about five years, Lucien Le Moine has been the last producer in Burgundy to bottle, and they were again with the 2008 vintage.  Malolactic Fermentation was not as late as usual because of the lees that was added, and finished in April/May instead of June/July.  Lucien Le Moine has never never acidified or de-acidified, so while some people de-acidified 2008, they didn’t touch the wines, and watched them over the summer become sweeter, fatter and more balanced, more attractive.  They started bottling around May 2010, and finished beginning of October 2010, after the harvest of 2010. 

  Looking at surrounding vintages, the 2005 is ageable, full of body, massive, tannic, with high acidity.  2006 has almost late harvest flavor, very deep, beautiful maturity, and nice acidity.   2007 is transparent, the perfect example of terroir in Burgundy, but will not age perhaps as long as 2006.  The 2008s are going to be the year for people who care about Burgundy.  They will be appreciated the next two-three years, for their very fresh fruit and balanced bodies.  Then they will sleep for a few years, but not like 2005s which are so big they will need a long time to awaken.  The 2008s will come back as classic wines of Burgundy, but not in a spicy, sous-bois manner; they will be traditional, but have a little bit of flashy fruit.  A very particular combination. 

  Lastly, the particularity of the Lucien Le Moine 2008s – a lot of wines are cloudy due to the lees; make sure to stand them up before decanting. 
   

  • "Cool, refreshing aromas of powdered stone and lemon zest. Densely packed and tightly coiled, with noteworthy energy and penetrating acidity to its flavors of peach, orange confiture and nutmeg. For all its cut, this does not come across as hard or aggressive. But this is considerably more vibrant today than the Corton Blanc." 92-94 Points International Wine Cellar

  • " Here the nose is even more inexpressive and only aggressive swirling liberates the green fruit, floral and stone aromas. The big-bodied flavors are equally taciturn and while they are rich, round, full-bodied and impressively powerful, this is decidedly focused and linear at present on the hugely long finish where, like a number of wines in the range, noticeable wood influence arrives." 91-94 Points Burghound

• 2007 Vintage

  As Mounir Saouma says, “2007 saw a fresh summer – when we say fresh summer, we mean well-balanced rain and sunny days.   There were cool but not cold days, days with some rain and sun, but not exaggerated either way.  And you see in the wines there is beautiful acidity, but not as much as 2008, and nice sweetness, but not as much as 2006.” 

   

  This character of mid-way but not extreme in many areas resulted in wines that took a long time to reveal their nature.  “The wines started fruity and the tannins were firm, and slowly we started seeing a kind of melding between sweetness and acidity after the malolactic a year later; we started seeing the real character of the wines after 14 months.  

   

  This development of the vintage is the reason that 2007 was the latest bottling Lucien Le Moine has ever done, and why they were the last producer in all of Burgundy to bottle.  Typically Lucien Le Moine starts bottling in January or February; in 2007 they started in February, but the majority of bottling took place from May to September.  Mounir aged all his 2007 wines on their lees, without sulfur, and never racked.   

   

  Mounir compares 2007 and 2006 a lot; they will both be vintages that are approachable and will last, and their technical numbers are similar, but they are physically and aromatically in completely different worlds.  “2006 is more about sweetness and for some people a heavier character; 2007 is more about freshness.  We will enjoy 2007, but it doesn’t take anything from the aging. 

   

  The whites are beautifully clean, in some cases showing an exotic character up-front, but they also have wonderful complexity and substance; like the reds, and as a general characterization of the vintage, they are wines of tremendous freshness and profundity.

  • "Bottled ten days before my visit; the malolactic fermentation finished in March of 2008 but Saouma gently stirred the lees twice monthly for another full year. Knockout nose combines crushed stone, menthol, white pepper, spices and lavender. On the palate, compelling sweetness is matched by almost painful minerality: this makes the brain shiver. At once tactile and wonderfully silky wine with an explosive spicy, minerally back end. An amazing example from the Pernand side of the hill." 95+? Points International Wine Cellar

  • "Brakin and Saouma’s two barrels of 2007 Corton-Charlemagne come from the same west-facing spot they have accessed since their first – 2001 – vintage. True to the behavior of this cru in the 2007 vintage, this is absolutely sublime as well as surprisingly winsome and approachable. Honeysuckle, apple blossom, quince, and high-toned distilled herb and floral essences combine in an aromatic charm offensive of overwhelming proportions. This it’s the palate as if shot from a hydrant and so refreshing, clear, invigorating, energized, and buoyant that it is little wonder you seem to be able to ride the finish forever. When I write “clear,” I should make clear that this includes transparency to characteristics deemed mineral. And I could just as well write that the palate here is like an alpine torrent saturated with milky glacial flour, so omnipresent and tactile is the impression of chalk dust. Even the texture here is complex. Toasted hazelnuts, marzipan, vanilla, butter cream, and lanolin cover the lactic and barrel-inflected side of the flavor spectrum while integrating perfectly with the wine’s striking floral perfume and pure, honeyed quince fruit." 94-95+ Points Wine Advocate

  • "By contrast, this is exceptionally elegant with a white flower, spice, mineral and green apple nose gracefully introducing intense, powerful and notably finer big-bodied flavors that really are borderline painful in their intensity, all wrapped in a driving, tension-filled and beautifully detailed finish. Note though that as impressive as it is, the depth of material and austerity of the finish will require some years to flesh out." 92-94 Points Burghound

     

  • "A ripe style, hinting at pineapple, with smoke, quince, peach and spice aromas and flavors.  Opulent and extroverted, this is nonetheless satisfying and firmly structured with ample oak filling the finish." 93 Points Wine Spectator