Although I always feel like a wine of this magnitude requires a long, involved description here on the site, I’m opting for brevity today: Quite simply, it has no peer. At some point or another, we’ve probably offered every wine Domaine Delarche makes. The impeccable quality, consistency, and incredible value-for-dollar these wines deliver is second to none in Burgundy.
In fact, I find it hard to believe that this estate, and today’s voluptuous Grand Cru white, continue to fly under the radar. Check the price of Delarche’s 2018 Corton-Charlemagne against just about any other bottling from this legendary vineyard: Delarche owns perfectly positioned vines averaging 50 years of age, works magic with them, and still this wine is priced well below—often many multiples below—the competition. Some of you will recognize this wine immediately and pounce, knowing that it is perhaps the best elite white Burgundy buy of the year, but for newer subscribers, I’ll repeat something I’ve said before: Grand Cru whites of this quality, at this price, are practically unheard of.
Etienne Delarche’s 2018 was made from hand-harvested, 100% de-stemmed grapes that were fermented in used oak casks using only ambient yeasts. The finished wine was aged in 33% new French oak for 14 months, and, even at this young stage, the oak component is beautifully integrated. Bottled unfined and unfiltered, the wine displays a pale, golden-yellow core with green reflections on the rim. The intense, youthful nose is exotic, with focused aromas of dried pineapple, hazelnuts, yellow apple, green peach, yellow plum, acacia and honeysuckle accented by a hint of vanilla bean and toasty oak. The palate is medium-plus in body and delivers powerful, compact minerality, with complex flavors that mirror the nose. The finish goes on forever. Trying to drink this wine now is infanticide, but it’s a great lesson in young Corton-Charlemagne. It is delicious, but the future will show its true potential (if you can wait, I’d say it will be entering its prime drinking window around its 10th birthday). If you do decide to drink this wine now, decant for two hours and serve at cellar temperature in Burgundy stems—ideally with the most bespoke Roasted Chicken recipe you can handle. Here’s a classic take from chef and restaurateur Jonathan Waxman.