As I wrote earlier this year, Bonneau du Martray's 2020 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru unwinds in the glass with aromas of crisp Anjou pear, peach and nectarine mingled with white flowers, clear honey, nutmeg, mint and fresh bread. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, it's bright and concentrated, with terrific depth at the core and a long, saline finish. Seamless, intense and complete, this elegant, precise white Burgundy is built for the cellar.
Revisited from bottle, the 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has turned out very well indeed, unwinding in the glass with notes of crisp orchard fruit, fresh bread, orange oil and nutmeg. Medium to full-bodied, layered and elegantly satiny, it's deep and saline, concluding with fine grip on the finish. In this charming, demonstrative vintage, Bonneau du Martray has succeeded in producing a serious, age-worthy wine.
Domaine Bonneau du Martray is a prestigious wine producer located in the heart of Burgundy, France. The estate has a long and rich history dating back to the 12th century when it was owned by the monks of Cluny. In the 18th century, the property was acquired by the Martray family, who gave it its current name. Today, the estate is run by Jean-Charles le Bault de la Morinière, who is committed to producing exceptional wines that reflect the unique terroir of Corton Charlemagne.
Corton Charlemagne is a Grand Cru appellation located in the Côte de Beaune region of Burgundy. It is known for producing some of the finest white wines in the world, and Domaine Bonneau du Martray is one of the top producers in the area. The vineyards are situated on a hillside with a south-east facing exposure, which allows for optimal ripening of the grapes. The soil is composed of limestone and clay, which gives the wines their characteristic minerality and complexity.
The style of production at Domaine Bonneau du Martray is traditional and focused on quality. The grapes are hand-harvested and sorted before being gently pressed. The juice is then fermented in oak barrels, where it undergoes malolactic fermentation and aging for 12-18 months. The wine is then bottled and aged for an additional 6-12 months before release.
The wines produced by Domaine Bonneau du Martray are elegant and complex, with a perfect balance of fruit, acidity, and minerality. The Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru is a stunning example of the estate's winemaking prowess. It is a full-bodied wine with aromas of citrus, white flowers, and hazelnuts. On the palate, it is rich and creamy, with flavors of ripe pear, lemon, and a hint of vanilla. The finish is long and lingering, with a beautiful minerality that is characteristic of the Corton Charlemagne terroir.
Overall, Domaine Bonneau du Martray is a producer that is dedicated to producing exceptional wines that reflect the unique terroir of Corton Charlemagne. Their wines are elegant, complex, and full of character, making them a must-try
The 2016 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is showing superbly from bottle, unwinding in the glass with a classy bouquet of crisp green apple, pears, almond paste, fresh pastry and Meyer lemon. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, concentrated and precise, with serious depth, tangy acidity, and chewy structuring dry extract while remaining elegantly textural. Intense and complete, it's an immensely promising wine which augers well for Bonneau du Martray's future.
The 2015 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru from Bonneau du Martray reveals a youthful nose of citrus zest, white flowers, tart pineapple and struck flint, framed by some spicy new oak. On the palate, this full-bodied wine reveals tension and definition that it seemed to miss in barrel, its glossy attack now backed by a nicely chalky structure and a deep, properly reserved core. This will need some time in the bottle to integrate, but its evolution is very promising, and while this is unusually rich and concentrated those qualities don't come at the expense of terroir.
The 2014 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru, which was still on the less when I tasted it at the domaine, has a crisp, fresh oyster shell-tinged bouquet that opens nicely with aeration. It is just a little austere, not that is detracts from its pleasure. The palate is fresh on the entry with a crisp line of acidity; perhaps a little more austere than other vintages, but that allows the terroir to show through. There is a lovely touch of lemongrass on the finish that prolongs length, completing a fine, quite saline, intriguing contribution to the vintage.
The 2013 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has a very pretty bouquet, backward of course, but opening with hints of white peach and white flowers, the oak succinctly integrated. The palate is crisp and taut with a keen line of acidity, the 2014 is quite saline-like, with hints of ginger and spice furnishing the finish. This is a very fine Corton-Charlemagne that sits comfortably at the upper end of my banded score from last year. It may improve even further with continued bottle age.
The 2011 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is also showing quite well, offering up aromas of citrus zest, pear and white flowers mingled with hints of green pineapple and pastry cream. Medium to full-bodied, fleshy and charming, it's elegantly textural and open knit, with succulent acids and a saline finish. It's a creditable effort from Bonneau du Martray's ancien régime, even if it's surpassed by what's being made today.
The 2010 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru offers an enticing array of marine scents on the nose: cockle shells and estuarine aromas. Give it a couple more minutes and watch those lovely grilled walnut scents flourish and multiply so that is ends up almost Meursault Perrieres in character. The palate makes an immediate impression on the entry with that subtle nutty theme continuing, partnered with racy acidity, superb concentration and a long, tense finish that is energetic and surfeit with mineralite, flint popping up on the finish. So delicious you could broach a bottle now - but that would be depriving you of what will be in a decade-s time!
Bonneau de Martray’s 2009 Corton-Charlemagne is quite a bit richer, deeper, and more voluptuous than the 2010 tasted alongside it. Ripe pears, apples, white flowers and crushed rocks are all woven together in an elegant style that is impossible to resist. This relatively fat, full-bodied wine needs time to fully emerge, but it is shaping up to be a beauty. Layers of fruit build to the intense, generous finish.
Jean-Charles Le Bault de Martray has established a singular track record for wine from a single large parcel in the heart of the original Charlemagne vineyards of Corton. His distinctive methods typically include separate fermentation of each vineyard block; a year in barrel with late summer malolactic; and a full six months on the fine lees in tank, in which state I tasted his 2006 Corton-Charlemagne. An architect by training, Le Bault de Martray values -brightness, precision, and proportionality- and it is easy to see those virtues exemplified in this wine, characterized by clarity, subtlety, firmness of structure, and sheer refreshment unusual for the vintage.
Scents of fresh lime, heliotrope, and white peach usher in a subtly creamy yet persistently bright and juicy display of continued citrus, peach, and inner-mouth floral notes. Airy and elegant, this finishes almost delicately but tenaciously. Le Bault de Martray cautions that his Corton-Charlemagne virtually uniformly -shuts down- for several years soon after bottling. I would recommend planning on revisiting this 2006 in 3-5 years and it should repay at least an additional decade's bottle maturation. The palpable extract and depth of sweet-saline, savor in the 2005 put it in a similar league and in line for a similarly long life.
This has a very seductive nose although it takes more than two minutes in the glass to reveal its intense, almost Meursault-like bouquet that reminds me of Coche-Dury in some ways. The palate is very well concentrated with vibrant acidity, subtle hints of citrus lemon, acacia honey that leads to a lingering, almost viscous finish. This remains an outstanding Corton-Charlemagne that deserves at least ten years in bottle.
While most of his neighbors were harvesting the maximum allowable yields of 63 h/h or more, Jean-Charles de la Moriniere harvested his Corton-Charlemagne at 47 h/h, yet he still complained that this was 20% over his objective.
The 1999 Corton-Charlemagne reveals lovely aromatic depth of minerals and spices. Medium-bodied, rich, and precise, this is a defined, pure, detailed wine filled with lemons, nuts, and pears. It is harmonious, elegant, and complete.
I was bowled-over by the quality of the 1995 Corton-Charlemagne, it is certainly the finest wine I have tasted from this famous estate. Beguiling aromas of red berries, vanilla, and traces of coconut are followed by a powerful punch of concentrated, extracted, and intense flavors. This gorgeous medium-to-full-bodied wine has a tightly wound "nugget" of red currants, almonds, hazelnuts, pears, and minerals in its silky-textured, extremely well-balanced, and admirably long character. It should be at its peak between 2002 and 2010. Bravo! to Jean-Charles de la Moriniere for the three outstanding Corton-Charlemagnes he has crafted since taking over this estate in 1994.
