2014 Le Corton

The product of a dry spring and a rainy summer, the 2014 Corton Grand Cru Clos des Cortons Faiveley offers up an appealing bouquet of wild berries, dark chocolate, cedar, espresso roast and candied peel that's framed by a deft touch of creamy new oak. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, with an ample, textural attack but a tight-knit, somewhat closed mid-palate that's structured around fine-grained but firm tannins. While the 2014 isn't as as broad-shouldered as the 2015, it's a powerful, structured wine that will demand some patience.

Bright medium-dark red. Reticent but very pure aromas of cherry, dark berries, licorice, musky underbrush and salty minerals; smells riper and less peppery than the '13, and a bit Cabernet-like. Thick but fresh on entry, then wonderfully suave, juicy and fine-grained in the mid-palate, showing terrific vibrancy and lift as well as a rose petal topnote that's not yet present in the 2015. Still plenty of medicinal reserve here but this is a step up in finesse from the 2013 and distinctly longer and subtler on the aftertaste. Finishes with very fine-grained, tongue-saturating tannins and a subtle whiplash of pungent red and black fruits, minerals and soil. There's incipient body here but the wine is still youthfully imploded and more salty than sweet. Its balance and finesse, though, make it easy to taste today. Extended aeration brought an even silkier texture and lovely sweet Pinot tang of red berries, rose petal and minerals, even a hint of blood orange. Obviously still very young but this wine struck me as a bit more pliant than it was shortly after bottling. It's also hard to believe that such a stylish wine could have been produced here under the old regime. (13.2% alcohol; 3.45 pH; 3.75 g/l acidity; 33 h/h)