2004 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne- France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru (2/3/2012)
First bottle of a case…I was REALLY worried when I popped the cork and smelled it, and in the bottle…seemed a little advanced??? Son-of-a-bleeeeeeppp! Man I hope this isn’t poxed! Well…I let it sit in bottle for 4hrs…first pour…Ahhhh…bright white gold color!!! Sniff…ahhh…minerals and lemons!! Whew…we’re good! This wine is bright and tight with crushed minerals and acid…yet has enough ripe white peach, pear, apple fruit to make it spectacular! I’m a HUGE fan of '04 White Burg…love the taut nerve…and this wine epitomises that. To go along with the great structure…it has tasty subtle smoky creamy oak, flint, hazelnut…as well as beautiful floral lime blossoms and some ginger honey. I’m in sippers Heaven here! Love this! (94 pts.)
Tasted this a year ago and no sign of the p’ox, but it was very tight and remained so despite extended aeration. I used to love this wine before I quit buying in 2006
I had one partially oxidized bottle on October 6, 2010. It was still drinkable, but it didn’t get better with time. Allen Meadows has a note on his database to the same effect. We will taste another bottle at this year’s premox dinner series on February 15.
For the first 25+ years I’ve enjoyed burgundy, this was the one I owned the most of. I loved the price point and I really liked the wines with some age. 2004 was the last vintage I bought, and I sold mine a couple of years ago. Until I obtain information from the domaine that satisfies me that they they’ve made significant changes that I believe will rectify their consistent oxidation problems (every vintage from 1995 to 2002), I’ll never buy another bottle. As of now, I have no information as to any changes of any kind by BDM despite several people asking at my request. I intend to ask in person at the Paulee SF later this month.
I tasted the 2005 last Sunday at a friend’s house, and I have to say, it was pre-moxed. It just had zero character, and was alarmingly insipid. My suspicion is that of lack of fine lees, as this had no weight or mouthfeel too it, and reeked of sour pineapple that had been left in the sun for far too long.
Another bottle tonight…this one didn’t have any signs of pox at all upon opening…very clean and pure…but kind of closed down, as it wasn’t showing all the goods like the first bottle. I’m going to cork the rest of the bottle, and try again tomorrow…
Had the '05 2 weeks ago, was a very good, young, powerful and tight wine in need of 10 more years. Not too big and ripe looking as some '05’s are, and quite detailed.
until premox, I always called this the “value grand cru” white Burg.
Opened an 89 Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlemagne Saturday and it was absolutely screamingly delicious.
alan
BdM is has always been my favorite White Burg producer, and thank you for posting this tasting note. I haven’t had any since the 2002, which had a bit of premox on it. BOOOO!!!
Been drinking my fourth bottle of this for the past 3 days…it has always had a little ox character to it upon opening…slight nutty sherry honey…but plenty of minerals and lemon acidity to keep it alive. With it being open for three days…you would think if it had some predisposed oxidativeness to it, that it would get worse each day? But as I drink the last of the bottle here on day 3…it is as the first…in fact, might even be the best, most integrated, fresh and alive glass of them all! Great wine here…no pox, just a little 8yr aged complexity to it.
Seeing your note and then revieweing the thread I realize that I never followed up to post about the bottle we tasted on February 15, 2012 as part of the 2004 Vintage Assessment/“Premox Check” dinners. Unfortunately, the results were not good. Here are my notes:
#23 [Bonneau du Martray Corton Charlamagne]
Between light and medium gold color; some lemon citrus and butterscotch aromas; advanced butterscotch and lemon zest flavors despite notable phenols and good acidity. Five of the twelve tasters on the panel thought this was outright oxidized. The rest of us agreed it was advanced but not yet showing the classic sherry or “cornflakes” aromas and sherry-like flavors that usually mark outright oxidized wines. Group Rank: Tied for 21st, 0 pts 88-advanced
For me it was simply the latest instance of the unbroken line of vintages with prematurely oxidized wines from BDM starting with the 1995 vintage. Ironically, the current proprietor, Jean-Charles le Bault de la Morinière, took over the winemaking from his father in 1994.
I spoke to Jean-Charles at the Paulee in San Francisco in February hoping to learn that significant changes had been made in BDM’s winemaking since the 2005 vintage in order to avoid the well-documented premox problems. I received no such assurance and he indicated that he would only be willing to discuss the issue of premature oxidation of BDM’s wines if I came to visit the domaine in burgundy. Two friends of mine had already made that trip and asked questions about premox and didn’t receive satisfactory answers either. BDM remains high on my list of the producers who have the worst track record for premature oxidation.