2010 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

Jean-Charles de la Moriniere makes a single white wine but a load of it, as he is the single largest owner of land in Corton-Charlemagne, with 9.5 hectares of vines out of a total of 34.De la Moriniere was not ready to show his 2012 but had bottled his 2011 in March.The crop level in '11 was reduced by hail on May 20, just before the flowering, which damaged the canopy.De la Moriniere told me that treatments with valerian and arnica cured these "wounds" in 48 hours.I also retasted the 2010 Corton-Charlemagne and it is at least as strong as I thought it was a year ago.(The 2006 was a bit more problematic, as it wasn't until the third bottle that we found one that was as fresh as a grand cru white Burgundy of this age should be.) (A Becky Wasserman selection; imported by Martin-Scott Wines, www.martinscottwines.com and Chambers & Chambers Wine Merchants, www.chamberswines.com)

Proprietor Jean-Charles le Bault de la Morinière compares 2011 to 2007, and to a lesser extent, 2001. Flowering was very early, as it was everywhere in Burgundy, but the main cause for concern was a hailstorm that arrived on May 20, that seems to have had little effect on yields, which were inline with normal. A very rainy July and early August slowed down ripening from its previous fast pace. The Chardonnay harvest started on September 6 and finished on the 12th. Fermentations were quite slow within the context of the year, and it was not until June 2012 that the malos were completely finished. The 2011 Corton-Charlemagne was bottled in Spring 2013.

Sometimes I wish Bonneau de Martray made more wines, as my tastings with Jean-Charles le Bault de la Morinière are always much too brief. Readers will find wines of impeccable polish and class at this small domaine tucked in the hillsides of Pernand-Vergelesses. De la Morinière told me that he hoped to make the red Corton once again available to the estate's customers in the US, which is great news, although it hasn't happened yet. According to de la Morinière, 2009 was a year unlike any other he has seen for its consistent, uninterrupted good weather. The harvest started on September 9th. Yields came in at 39.4 hectoliters per hectare for the Corton-Charlemagne and 27.05 hectoliters per hectare for the Corton. The Corton-Charlemagne finished its malo in June 2010, while the Corton started its malo in May, 2010 and finished in August. Both of the 2009s were bottled in Spring 2011. By contrast, the 2010s were brought in beginning on September 23, after a year characterized by an irregular flowering that lowered yields and an equally variable summer with periods of rain and heat. Conditions improved markedly during the month of September. Yields of 30.50 hectoliters per hectare for the Corton-Charlemagne and 22 hectoliters per hectare for the Corton were the lowest ever recorded at the domaine with the exception of 2003.