Bonneau du Martray 2015s - the first of three mini blogs from Burgundy, October 2016

So last Sunday/Monday, with two colleagues, I made a bit of a "dash in, dash out" visit to Burgundy. Strictly that's not true as Guido stayed there all week. But it is amazing what you can get to taste in 20 hours in the Cote!

We arrived and about 3 minutes later had supper in Puligny. The three bottles in the picture.
Puligny-Montrachet 2012 from Francois Carillon was drinking deliciously, just PnP and crack on, good intensity. The Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot 2012 from Domaine Ramonet is clearly less ready, more focussed, tighter and may be leaner but classy, I didn't really have a favourite right now. Hand carrying a bottle of Bordeaux - Roc de Cambes 2009 - to Burgundy may seen a little odd but actually there are very few occasion when Roc isn't a good idea. The 2009 shows all the promise of never closing down (the 2005 though did)...what's not to like, our guest certainly loved it.

Up at the "crack of sparrows" and down to breakfast in the hotel in Puligny at 7am, first tasting, for which we were 1 minute early was 8am at Bonneau du Martray with the ever charming and often slightly mischievous Jean-Charles Le Bault de la Moriniere. We chatted and then went downstairs to the tasting room which is new since I was last there back in 2009. I'll never leave it this long again!

It is lovely to visit this Domaine, almost unique in producing solely Grand Cru wine - even Domaine de la Romanee-Conti sometime does a 1er Cru!! Having just two wines to concentrate on is a blessing when at some producers it can be tens of wines. Red then white (leaves you better placed for the next tasting from a practical standpoint) as the locals prefer.

Corton Grand Cru 2015 - Good colour, bright and translucent. Very primary and airy on the nose, good wine, nice crunchy fruit and a proper backbone. A good mineral aspect, cherry fruits and a little black fruit but behind the red. Vibrant, freshness. 17-18 out of 20 Drink 2022-2032+ (40% new wood).

Then a chance to re-taste the bottled (end of March 2016) 2014 vintage. This was the first certified organic vintage for the estate.

Corton Grand Cru 2014 - Nicely complete, melds together well. Some sweetness to the attack, then structure. A little leaner than sometimes, good structure and a cool fruit character which adds to the crunchy fruit expression. 17 out of 20 Drink 2020-2026+ 

FYI - Jean-Charles likes to always wait 8-10 years before opening the red. About the only exception I have found was the 2007. 

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2015 - In many ways this is the crucial wine of the visit. Bonneau du Matray is comfortably the largest landowner in Corton-Charlemagne. Lovely bright colour, waxy with some unctuousness, generous for the wines of this estate but some of that will be the ripeness of youth. A little grapefruit and great depth. Lemons and pears on the finish. This will tighten up and is very promising indeed. 18-18.5 out of 20 Drink 2019-2027

Then the 2014 which I have had in London a couple of times.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2014 - A good whiff of subtle reduction. A little prickle of spice, such supreme tension, this is the archetypal "coiled spring" but not to the degree that means you can't see how good it is now...you can! Savoury, intense, moreish and very long...18.5-19 out of 20 Drink 2020-2030+

A few words about the savageness of the production in 2016 here...well not as bad as many places is the answer. The 2016 Corton-Charlemagne is 40% down, the Corton is 66% down (usually 24 barrels, just 8 in 2016).

Bravo J-C!

Bonneau du Martray - a recent vintages tasting with Jean-Charles le Bault de La Moriniere

A few weeks back before everything got ever more manic with Christmas and the pre-Burgundy season (January) workload we were delighted to have Jean-Charles le Bault de La Moriniere of Bonneau du Martray in town. We spent two hours listening to him and firing questions at him while we tasted two reds and three whites. It was a special afternoon. As usual I will state my fairly considerable bias now, this is the 15th vintage I have worked with. Having said that there is arguably no other 100% Grand Cru estate that is under-recognised like Bonneau du Martray. The older vintages of this great estate are stunning and that includes years with no right to be so like the 1987 and 1994 that I have had several times. The 1992 is one of "the" white Burgundy drinking experiences. There have been intermittent "premox" problems but these Jean-Charles feels certain are due 100% to cork supplier (i.e. there are "good" and "bad" batches as the Domaine had separate suppliers - a common practice) and limited to 1995-2005 in my view. There is nothing before and nothing since where I have seen any problems. I say this from a stand point where my drinking experience is greater with this estate that almost any other white Burgundy estate.

I do not intend this to be a long post, I have written on these wines many times in the past and whilst I am honest enough to say I do not always understand the red Corton or give it the time (in maturity terms) in may well need, I love the Corton-Charlemagne for it's preciseness and moreishness - I always want another glass/bottle/magnum and ultimately that is the measure of a wine being great.

As in Burgundy we went red then white:

Corton Grand Cru  2009 – Lovely tight freshness, it is too early but there is a lot to love about the minerality here. A wine to look at again in 4-5 years and well beyond.

Corton Grand Cru 2014 – (cask sample which the Domaine do not like to do) I simply summed this up as “Vibrant”, there is so much energy and purity…will be exciting to follow.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2011 – I love this wine. It showed so well. There is just a wonderful balance, opulent but so true to the Domaine. Some lemon short bread and easy persistence. Hedonistic even.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2012 – Wow! This has so much potential. Coiled like the tightest of springs with a whiff of reduction and then so much power to the palate – this demands patience! It is a real shame that this crop was so small but may be that is where the magic comes from.

Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2014 – (cask sample again) Focussed and fine with lots of minerality and so much drive, a little lime and saline too. Superb.

A splendid tasting!

Fascinating map of the hill of Corton.