From an eastern exposure, the Prieur 2006 Corton-Charlemagne delivers lime, tangerine, herbs, and chalk dust on the nose; saturates the palate with chalk, salts, citrus oils, and resinous herbs; and finishes with impressive force, meaty, almost red wine-like depth, and impressive, implacable stoniness. This should be worth following for a decade or more, and even the very short term may well reveal further details, as well as dissipate a slightly leesy, lactic note that still clung to it when I last tasted. The gorgeously-scented, honeyed and yet adamantly stony 2005 displays similar complexity, concentration, and potential.
Harvest began here September 20, and oenologist Nadine Gublin (who recently added wine making direction at Brocard in Chablis to her duties) insisted their Chardonnay was not really ripe before them – even though its evolution was rapid – and that very little triage was necessary. Malo-lactic transformation was exceedingly protracted, and some wines were not finished even in November, 2007, when I last tasted them. The entire collection was rather obviously marked by their (40-100%) new wood; less so by its routinely over-14% alcohol.
Importer: Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York, NY; tel. (212) 355-0700.