Last Thursday was Bonneau du Martray (BdM) day at C&B with Jean-Charles le Bault de la Morinière in town. For some crazy reason since we won the agency for the two wines of BdM – the 2009 is our 10th vintage – I have always managed to be away when Jean-Charles has come over.  It wasn’t until last November  that I actually met the great man during a trip to Burgundy (which you can read all about if you click here).

Now, as an important point we are talking here about the only Domaine in Burgundy that produces purely Grand Cru wines and this is no gimmick – just cold hard fact. We had two main events lined up on Thursday – a tasting for the C&B team and a dinner with our friends and customers – with a simple but not that brief lunch in between.

Stage 1 – Gathered in the dining room at HQ, Jean-Charles took us through a brief background to the estate and the winemaking, most of which is covered elsewhere on the C&B site or in the yearly release offer but some snippets in brief; there are 16 different plots for the Corton-Charlemagne and these are made into 16 different wines so as to be able to constantly assess the characteristics of each (Jean-Charles is a detail man!). The estate has an average vine age of 45 years and has a rolling replanting process to ensure this continues. Only 23% of the vines are from clones (I realise it is a word at which point some people glaze over so please bear with me) which enables the character of the estates own vines to continue rather than the clones changing anything (last mention of clones, I promise). I later asked if there were years when plots were excluded and got the precise answer that in 1982 one younger parcel was excluded and likewise in 2004 when one of the 16 parcels was left out (sold off to negoce). The main characteristic of the Domaine and particularly the Corton-Charlemagne is stunning minerality and complexity  – the wine is a product of light rather than heat which I think explains to some degree the mineral and long-lived,sometimes taut character of the wine and may be why a vintage like the “freaky” 2003 was so successful.

Anyway, onto the tasting: 4 vintages of Corton-Charlemagne and one of Le Corton.

2003 Corton-Charlemagne

I will profess to having had this many times more than I deserve (Mr Brett-Smith is a massive fan of all things 2003). It is atypical of the Domaine but also of the vintage, which makes it fun but this doesn’t make it a novelty. The structure is good and the wine in Jean-Charles words “never shut down” (most of BdM’s C-C’s do for a while). There was no acidification (are in 2003) and the balance is there.

2006 Corton-Charlemagne

Fresh and clean and a little more taut than i have come to expect of 2006’s in general. It is a vintage Jean-Charles thinks very highly of as everything is in great balance. The grapes were picked quite early (a wise thing in 2006). It was described as spherical, not round but spherical.

2007 Corton-Charlemagne

A vintage when April was as hot as June is normally…thereafter a dull summer. The wine however is pure class – very mineral an streamlined and not for the hedonist (yet anyway). Jean-Charles said that at the domaine it was the “argumentative” vintage – because his mild manner pickers and staff all got a bit ratty with the endless work that the vintage required.

2008 Corton-Charlemagne

The first time I have tasted this since being at the Domaine last November. More tropical than I expected and more showy than the 2007. I think this will go into itself again but was singing well.

2006 Le Corton

Very persistent palate followed a nose of lovely complex fruit. Only really the tannins suggested the long future this wine clearly has. Another example of the amazing resurgence of this wine under Jean-Charles.

A brilliant tasting ended and I think a few more Bonneau evangelists were “born”.

 

Adam and I then took Jean-Charles to C&B’s Paternoster bar for lunch with the remainder of the C-C 2006 & 2007 plus a bottle of the Biserno 2007 from Lodovico Antinori…a lot of very lively conversation followed…

Stage 2 – Dinner at Roussillon  

For pre-dinner we had the Corton-Charlemagne 2007 as above with excellent canapes in the bar/private dining area downstairs. Moving upstairs for dinner Adam introduced Jean-Charles who took the 60 dinners through a little history of the estate and then the first two wines on the night; Corton-Charlemagne 2006 & 2001 with excellent Scallops (some of the largest I have seen) with cauliflower and coconut textures. Both shone, the 2006 being a real favourite on my table. The 2001 was my pick and one of the wines of the night I thought  – as a digression is it just me or is 2001 a lovely drinkers, if not stella, vintage everywhere? This 2001 was at a lovely stage, I would say that if you have a case then get it delivered and try a bottle!

Next up was pot roast breast of guinea fowl with truffled leeks and pan seared foie gras – a lovely course that went well with a red and white combo – Corton-Charlemagne 2003 and Le Corton 2001. This worked really well and made for two interesting matches. The Corton 2001 had a lovely nose and was very popular on my table, still young but balanced and lovely for drinking from now on, just like it’s white counterpart from the previous course. The 2003 stood up well to the richness of the dish.

The final course was Cheese – a lovely selection and one that meant we could go back to whites…everyone always says how well whites go with cheese but it seldom is actually done.  This worked very well with the two mature vintages…Corton-Charlemagne 1990 and 1987. The 1990 was stunning, very classy, drinking well but in no way over mature, it had a bit of everything and was very moreish. The 1987 is an old friend to C&B as it is a wine we have used on several occasions to show exactly how great a Domaine this is, the 1987 has no right to be as lovely as it is, it is not a glamorous vintage in any way but is mature and lovely now…alongside the 1990 it was fascinating and much as the 1990 is the blue blooded thoroughbred the 1987 is a reliable handicapper that will never let you down – apologies for the racing analogy!

The evening was a tremendous one with a lovely relaxed atmosphere and food and wines that went brilliantly. Jean-Charles spoke so well and everyone left with a greater understanding and appreciation for this great estate. Here’s to our next 10 vintages with Jean-Charles – from what I have tasted the 2009 should be hitting its stride by then!!