Wine: 2000 Corton-Charlemagne

Producer: Maison Henri Boillot (Volnay)

Comment: It is extremely rare in my experience to have the négociant wines at any of the top-tier firms hold their own, let alone surpass those from the domaine side of the house but here is one that does just that. While I very much liked the 2000 Domaine wines from Henri Boillot (sold under the label Domaine Jean Boillot - Burghound.com subscribers please refer to Issue 7 for these reviews) for their extremely pure fruit and solid concentration, I also found the oak to be more than a background nuance. Thus I was quite pleasantly surprised to find this wine to have completely eaten its oak and displaying all the beautiful purity of fruit that one could want. The explosive nose is framed by intense green-apple aromas and obvious mineral notes followed by wonderfully detailed, dense, ripe yet understated, indeed even slightly austere flavors that reveal outstanding cut and this just oozes minerality on the long, intense finish. The finish does a slow build from the mid-palate and shows obvious power and muscle yet impeccable balance. This is a very impressive effort and as négociant Corton-Charlemagne goes, this is perhaps the best example I tasted for the entire vintage. 93/2008-15

U.S. Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, D.C.

Suggested Price: $150 (you can expect to pay around $125)

Important Note: Burghound.com has no financial relationship of any kind with Maison Boillot or Robert Kacher Selections.

Each week we feature a different Burgundy. While there will be a mix of vintages, most wines featured will be those that can normally be found at a variety of fine wine retailers. Each wine will be described and rated with a suggested window of peak drinkability indicated after the numerical score. Prices shown are estimated retail in the U.S., but prices do of course vary widely depending on the retailer.