2014 Chandon de Briailles Corton-Clos du Roi Grand Cru, Burgundy

At an average age of 60 years old, the Domaine’s vines in the Clos du Roi are some of their oldest. Not without reason did Louis XI confiscate this vineyard for his own purposes! It remained as the Clos du Roi (the Clos of the King) until the French Revolution three centuries later. The wine comes from just 0.4 hectares of millerandage affected vines that produce tiny bunches and berries, and the 2015 is simply magic. So perfumed and floral and fine with wild red fruits and white strawberry notes. It’s so damn seductive until the savoury, powdery tannins kick in and you’re reminded that you’re in a great Corton terroir. The length is super impressive too. 100% whole bunch as always.

The 2015 Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru is a magical wine in the making, opening in the glass with a deep and brooding bouquet of cherries, plum preserve, espresso roast, rich soil, dark chocolate and dried rose petals. On the palate, the wine is incredibly complete and multidimensional, with an ample chassis of fine-grained, chalky tannins, a bright line of acidity, and immense concentration and length. More deep and layered than the Corton Bressandes, this Clos du Roi is also finer-boned and more mineral, its aromas and flavours less wild and ‘sauvage,’ and while the wine's considerable structure will demand a decade of bottle age, this will be a benchmark Corton in the fullness of time.’

The Wine Advocate

(vinified with 80% whole clusters and aged in 20% new oak; 12. 8% natural alcohol):Very ripe aromas of redcurrant and milk chocolate. Suave, silky and sweet in the mouth, conveying an impression of almost exotic chocolatey ripeness leavened by a rose petal element. Finishes with serious, mouth-dusting tannins and a repeating chocolate character. This wine carries a high 3. 9 pH but will need time to resolve its tannins. Claude de Nicolay describes it as "a red Charlemagne," noting that the vineyard lies at a very high altitude of 350 meters.

91 points Stephen Tanzer vinous.com