Terroir Insight: Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne

Bouchard Pere et Fils produces two classic wines from the Corton hill: its Le Corton and Corton-Charlemagne,

The Beaune-based estate acquired about 60% of the magnificent Le Corton lieu-dit in 1909, and consequently created two of its top cuvées. So let’s take a closer look at the white from Corton, perhaps the best of the domaine’s wines from the famous hill.

Corton-Charlemagne: At the top, yet not matching the Montrachets

Corton-Charlemagne is considered by many to be the best white vineyard outside Puligny and Chassagne (perhaps not counting the elusive white Musigny).

In my world, the classification is correct in general: Montrachet first, Chevalier- and Batard-Montrachet second and third, and Criots- and Bievenues-Batard-Montrachet fourth (and sometimes third in the best cases).

Tasting a great Corton-Charlemagne, however, does make me wonder if it’s not on a par with Criots and Bienvenues. But I’ll keep the ranking as follows:

• Montrachet
• Chevalier-Montrachet
• Bâtard-Montrachet
• Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet
• Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet
• Corton-Charlemagne
• Meursault Perrieres

The Bouchard line-up of whites is almost unrivalled, with a large plot of Montrachet, two Chevalier Montrachets, a Bâtard-Montrachet, and then the tremendous Corton-Charlemagne – the topic of this article.

The Bouchard Père et Fils plots of Corton-Charlemagne

Bouchard Père et Fils has a unique stronghold in Le Corton which, if you ask the Winehog, is a bit overlooked due to all the estate’s other grands crus in the Côte de Beaune.

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