1993 Corton Charlemagne

It smells of marmalade. A stunning nose. A kaleidoscope of crystalline flavour and acidity. Pickled lemon, hints of honey. Iridescent. Honeysuckle, burnt candle ends sputtering at the end of a long night, the sweet scent of rain on a warm summer’s night in the hour before dawn. And then the finish is umami, almost Jura-like. This is indescribable… It's aged so beautifully! But drink sooner rather than later.

It smells of marmalade. A stunning nose. A kaleidoscope of crystalline flavour and acidity. Pickled lemon, hints of honey. Iridescent. Honeysuckle, burnt candle ends sputtering at the end of a long night, the sweet scent of rain on a warm summer’s night in the hour before dawn. And then the finish is umami, almost Jura-like. This is indescribable… It's aged so beautifully! But drink sooner rather than later. (TC)

From a year that was austere for several decades but which has emerged as one of the most underrated choices for top-flight mature white Burgundy today, the 1993 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is showing very well indeed, wafting from the glass with notes of tangerine oil, crisp yellow orchard fruit, freshly baked bread, iodine and wet stones. Medium to full-bodied, textural and incisive, with a racy spine of acidity that's balanced by concentrated fruit, it concludes with a long, intensely sapid finish.