2018 Corton Charlemagne

The 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, which was picked around September 1, had already been bottled when I visited in mid-November. It has a lovely, almost Meursault-like bouquet featuring touches of praline and grilled hazelnut. The palate is quite rich on the entry, with tropical notes of passion fruit, guava and mango, counterbalanced by a fine thread of acidity. A powerful and rather uninhibited Corton-Charlemagne. Drink this over the next 15 years.

Bottled just before the harvest, the 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is the fourth vintage that Christophe Roumier has elected to seal with DIAM closures. Opening in the glass with notes of pear, toasted nuts, dried white flowers and a discreet application of oak, it's medium to full-bodied, fleshy and succulent, with an open-knit profile and a chalky finish. "I make white wine because we happen to have the vines," says Roumier, "but the parcel isn't ideally located, and I find the whole process of white wine vinification very mysterious. In red, it's the quality of the grapes that largely determines the outcome; with white wine, it's much more technical."