2012 Corton Charlemagne

A wine of contrasts, the 2012 Corton Charlemagne is at once rich yet also restrained, showing an inner tension that is compelling. Pear, white flowers and spices blossom on the palate as this creamy, textured Corton continues to show off its personality. This is a notable effort from Bruno Clair.

There are 3½ barrels of the 2012 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, their 0.32-hectare parcel located up towards the forest that crowns the hill. The nose is very well defined and pure with attractive scents of grapefruit, orange blossom and a smear of quince. The palate has a citrus driven entry with hints of elderflower and peach. It is not the most complex Corton-Charlemagne you can find, but it is one of the prettiest, with hints of lime and white peach lingering long after the wine has departed. It was a balmy, sunny June morning when I last visited Domaine Bruno Clair to take a peek at their 2011s, but it was different arriving to taste their 2012s, the mercury struggling above zero, snow draped over vines. It was a pleasure to meet Bruno and Philippe Brun again, the “Batman and Robin” of Marsannay, Bruno sporting his favorite lumberjack jacket ready to cut down a few trees. At least he was warm. After some reminiscing about his good friend Patrick Bize, we set about the new arrivals. The 2012s were picked between 20 September and 1 October. His village crus are raised in new oak until racking in early September and then transferred into 15-hectolitre foudres to moderate the impact of the wood. Usually they de-stem the entire crop, but the ripeness of the stems meant that his top crus include 20% whole cluster this year. They both seemed enthusiastic about the vintage and rightly so – this is a domaine that shifted up a gear and vies for the village’s leading domaine (even though their Gevrey holdings make the synonymous with the village further south.) Bruno and Philippe just appear to have found the knack of creating wines with finesse and character, a more prudent approach that has fostered more terroir-driven Pinot Noirs. Their Clos Saint Jacques was once and “also ran”. Now it is up there with the likes of Fourrier and Rousseau. Importer: A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet, various American importers, including: Martin Scott Wines, Little Neck, NY; tel. (516) 327-0808, Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL; tel. (708) 343-6702, The Source, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 621-6151. Also through Justerini & Brooks and other merchants in the UK.