2008 Corton Charlemagne

Full straw-yellow. Very ripe yet high-pitched aromas of wet stone, hawthorn and botanical herbs. Broad, silky and sweet, with a three-dimensional quality to the superrich yet sharply delineated flavors of crushed stone, violet and lavender. Perhaps best today on the superb rising finish, where the wine's compelling vibrancy carries through. Another wine of great dimension. Lardiere used 60% new oak here, but the wood element is fully integrated and virtually invisible. Showing spectacularly well today, perhaps due in part to the fact that this wine finished its fermentation early.

Attractively if lightly scented with a little bit of evolution already. Excellent balance and with about the right amount of acidity but in a very lightweight register. I would challenge blind tasters to realise this is a grand cru at this stage in its evolution. (JR)

A highly complex nose of pain grillé, cool green fruit laced with floral and anise hints leads to rich, powerful, naturally sweet and impressively intense full-bodied flavors that possess an overt muscularity as well as buckets of dry extract that really coats the mouth on the long and distinctly dry finish. Allen Meadows, Burghound, Jun01,2010.