TN: 2004 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne

WINE TALK
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  • 2004 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne - France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru (9/7/2009)
    To start with, this is really good. Elegant yet explosive, powerful yet restrained, balanced and concentrated. BUT it’s far too young, shows no real development and the specter of premox looms causing me to open this. Tonight, this wine is so much about potential and the current enjoyment, while high, does not warrant the asking price. I almost wish this was a lesser wine or a bit riper such that it would be a bit more approachable at age 5. That’s how fucked up the premox problem is, unfortunately. I’ll wait a while to try another bottle, but not very long, maybe a year tops.

Posted from CellarTracker

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Had a very good experience with this wine. Was my WOTN at a Burgundy tasting not too long ago. Recall toast, petrol, lemon and citrus, with air became more creme brulee sweet, finish lengthened slowly over time. A great overall experience. Then this past Friday, had the 2005 which was also a WOTN! Not a big fan of Bouchard red wines, but the Corton-Charlemagne is top notch IMO!

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Nick, I agree Bouchard C-C is fantastic. I have great memories of the 02 from about two years ago. However, for my tastes, this bottle, tonight, was too young. And it is a bit frustrating that I opened it more out of premox fear than any other reason. Were it not for premox, I wouldn’t have looked at it for another 5-10 years.

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Josh,
Any hint of pre-mox at this early stage?

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Scott, none what so ever. This wine is pale in the glass and as fresh and primary on the nose as you could imagine.

Just the fear of it coupled with the frustration of having opened a bottle too soon (for my tastes) [swearing.gif]

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Josh, I have not had the 04. The 02 is just fantastic, full of fruit. The 05 was a dissapointed to me due to wood.

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Josh,
I hear ya’. At my outlaw’s 50th anniversary, we opened a 2000 CC from Olivier Leflaive that was quite pleasant in its youth and we had gotten three bottles of quite cheap while on holiday but, it was sad to see how evolved it was at age 9 – at least my persception. The other two are long gone. My first CC experiences were with old Matray bottlings … man, I hope the faith is restored soon.

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Josh, what do you think the 02 is like today? Do you think it is still drinking well? Wondering if I should buy a bottle having liked the 04 and 05 so much. Have this sense you can hold tight on the 04 for several years, and the premox concern might have been unwarranted in this specific case. Perhaps it might be interesting to revisit in 2 to 4 years when it appears it might be at its peak? Sensed the same thing you did, very young right now, but could see a lot of potential.

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I haven’t had the 02 in a while. A friend had a magnificent bottle recently. Simultaneously, I’ve read a lot of notes on 02 Bouchard Meursault 1er Crus that are falling off the cliff :frowning:

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The 02 is still a little young for my tastes, as is 00. 99 and 96 are drinking great, although I did have one DOA 96 recently (heat damaged). My bottles sourced in Japan haven’t shown any pre-mox, but a couple of bottles of 99 Bouchard Montrachet purchased in the US have shown a little advanced. Agree with the assessments of 04 being a great CC, but I’ll let mine rest in peace for a little longer.

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Good to hear about the 96 Steve, thinking of bringing one to a tasting tomorrow night. If I do, will followup how it showed. Have an 06 as well, but guessing that would be a touch too young . . . ha