When it comes to Grand Cru Chardonnay in Burgundy’s illustrious Côte de Beaune, some of you already know that Delarche’s Corton-Charlemagne has been our undisputed value champion for seven years running. But for newer subscribers, I’ll happily repeat myself: Grand Cru whites of this quality, at this price, are now almost exclusively reserved for the history books—except today’s limited offering. Despite its consistent excellence and the prime positioning of the old vines that supply it, Delarche’s Corton-Charlemagne is shockingly underpriced. And that’s even further underscored when we compare it to their immediate vine neighbors:
Delarche’s choice parcels in this legendary site are adjacent to producers who charge $150-$600 for their own bottlings, and one of them lies about 30 feet from Burgundy’s most elusive, four-digit-priced unicorn: Domaine Leroy. So, while Burgundy’s prices, allocations, and politics exist in a state of chaotic flux each year, Delarche’s scintillating and luxuriously sculpted Corton-Charlemagne remains constant for us. Again, I cannot think of another Grand Cru bottling in the Côte de Beaune with this price/quality ratio—the value this wine delivers is second to none. NOTE: This is our once-per-year, tightly allocated offering of Delarche’s new release (and the ’19 is absolutely smoking), so consider this your first and final notice!
No Corton-Charlemagne offer is complete without a recounting of the vineyard’s epic history. It takes its name from a former French emperor, who gifted this to the religious community of Saint-Andoche de Saulieu in the year 775. According to legend, it was once an all-Pinot Noir vineyard, from which the hard-partying Emperor Charlemagne enjoyed many a bottle—staining his white beard in the process. Seeking to clean up his beard, if not his act, the Emperor’s wife had the vineyard re-planted to Chardonnay. Today, even without the fascinating folklore, it ranks among the greatest Chardonnay vineyards in the world.
The measure of a truly great wine estate is what they achieve with their “lesser” wines, not just their top-of-the-line bottlings. And in this regard, Delarche is truly great—for my money, they’ve got one of the strongest top-to-bottom lineups in Burgundy. Located in Pernand-Vergelesses and helmed by Etienne Delarche since 2008, they produce an assortment of reference-point whites and reds from Pernand’s best crus while also owning a few precious rows of vines in the “En Charlemagne” (western facing) and “Le Corton” (eastern facing) sections of Corton-Charlemagne. The soils are a grayish-colored limestone marl and Delarche’s old-vine parcels reliably deliver Chardonnay of incredible power, energy, and longevity.
Delarche’s 2019 was made from hand-harvested, 100% de-stemmed grapes that fermented in oak casks using only ambient yeasts, and the resulting wine matured in 100% new French oak for 14 months. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Even at this young stage, the luscious, oak-spiced components are beautifully integrated. The wine displays a bright golden-yellow core with vivid green and silver reflections moving out to the rim and erupts with ripe yellow pear, yellow apple, pineapple, lemon curd, lime blossom, baking spice, lees, vanilla bean, nutmeg, and finely crushed stones. The palate is full, creamy, and unapologetically luxurious with its dominant yellow fruit, powerful spice, and buoyant minerality. And while drinking this Grand Cru right now is wine’s equivalent of infanticide, its inviting opulence and tension is still a beautiful lesson in young Corton-Charlemagne. So, if you do enjoy a bottle in the short term, make sure you buy more than one because several years of additional bottle aging will reveal its true potential. Its “ready-to-drink” window will open around 2025, and it’ll hit its prime around its 10th birthday.
