Whose Corton Charlemagne do you prefer among the big houses (i.e., Bouchard, Drouhin, Jadot and Latour) and why. I would also be interested in folks’ views on the Corton Charlemagne from the “medium” houses (H. Boillot, Faiveley and Girardin)
Love Bouchard and buy it nearly every year. Jadot has been surprisingly strong in recent years.
can one include Bonneau du Martray which owns a large percentage of Corton Charlemagne? I’d vote for Bouchard. Among small, Colin-Morey ranks highly.
Bouchard, though it has its up and downs on consistency. Boillot used to be very good, but recent vintages have aged alarmingly poorly. BdM is a benchmark and appears pretty much recovered from its premox issues.
Which vintage would you say is the turning point for BdM with respect to premox? I have a few bottles and would love to better calibrate my drinking window
Jadot at top just has substance, Latour at bottom.
Not had enough Bouchard to foster an opinion, but will based on votes here.
Faiveley is really dialing it in. At the La Paulee walk around two years ago I thought their Corton Charlemagne and Batard were at the same level of quality for my taste. They don’t have a huge holding and they ask a lot for it, but the quality is high IMO. Also like the Bouchard a lot, but not as much as the Faiveley.
Bouchard
Bouchard, but before premox, probably Jadot.
Yao - I really only went back to them from 2010 and have not had problems. Could be slightly earlier vintages are also fine, but I don’t know.
In ‘15 I was really impressed by the Jadot and Faiveley (especially Faiveley). By comparison BdM was showing poorly. For ‘16 I’ve only tasted the Henri Boillot which really impressed me. More eye catching given the overall weakness of ‘16 whites at this year’s La Paulee.
I consciously left Bonneau du Martray off the list because they only make Corton whereas for the others Corton Charlemagne is one white among many.
So far I’m a little surprised at the lack of love for Drouhin. I have a couple of vintages of their CC, but have yet to pop one. I should fix that.
One has to look at different eras for all of these producers, as their examples of Corton-Charlemagne has changed a bit over time. From the 1993 vintage and back, Louis Latour was the creme de la creme of CC producers amongst these larger houses, with their Corton-Charlie exceptional in quality and extremely long-lived. Since Joseph Henriot purchased Bouchard, the white wines here have been consistently amongst the greatest in all of Burgundy and their CC is exemplary by every measuring stick. That said, I have also had some outstanding older ones, but they were not as consistent with this wine back in the pre-Henriot ownership era. Louis Jadot has made really lovely Corton-Charlemagne for a long, long time, but always in that house style with a partially blocked malolactic fermentation which gives the wine a strong house signature (essence of fresh pear and pastry cream components on both the nose and palate), so it is not the most classical example of CC, though always very, very good. Maison Joseph Drouhin has made the biggest changes in their Corton-Charlemagne in the last decade or so, as back in the old days they used to blend the production from their own parcels of vines in the grand cru with purchased production (either grapes of juice) and make a single, blended bottling. It was always good, but not up in the top division, either amongst their other top white wines or the best examples of CC. However, things have changed here dramatically with this wine in the last ten years and now the domaine’s own production is made and bottled separately and it is amongst the very finest examples of Corton-Charlemagne produced. It towers above the quality of the old, blended cuvee and is as refined and complex as any of the bigger houses’ examples. I do not taste the Faiveley example with any regularity anymore, so the style of this wine may have changed a bit since Irwin Faiveley took over. Back in the old days, I always found it a bit steely and bound up in its structural elements, and while good, I never found it to have the same complexity or breed as these other producers’ examples. But, as I said, I am a bit behind times with this estate and things may have changed of late.
All the big houses have significantly improved the quality of their CC’s, including Bichot, ( Domaine de Pavillon label previously Domaine de Clos Frantin ), and Latour whom is steadily making great strides and whom are the largest holder of vineyards entitled to be labeled CC.
BDM, made great austere wines for a long time pre premox, and new ownership I’m sure will reinvigorate those to at least that quality, Jadot has 2 bottlings under different Jadot labels - and things are looking up there significantly with the use of the new cork closure, Bouchard has already turned the corner and is making superlative CC, but I have a sweet spot for Drouhin CC’s, which have an uncanny ability to age despite their more gentle nature. I’ve enjoyed old Faiveley’s, and since 04 Girardin CC and Quintessence are reference standard, and very well priced. Boillot makes better white wines than their CC.
Yes. Recent vintage Girardin is so good. Love their Perrieres as well. Prices very reasonable.
Latour’s CC in 2014 and 2015 was outstanding.
L-Latour
Faiveley
No one bothered by the Latour pasteurization thing–or do they not still do it?
We opened an 82 Latour CC at my Mother in law’s funeral a couple of weeks ago that was simply beautiful. Her children and grand children shared it. Her husband had purchased it (who has also passed) and it was so on point. Sad and special.
Bouchard
Domaine du Pavillon (Albert Bichot)