CORTON CHARLEMAGNE

2016 Grand Cru Henri Boillot

EN PRIMEUR

Twelve barrels made from bought in grapes. Wow - this is electrically charged. Seriously intense. Tingles with acidity, but then a weighty streak of riper apple fruit. A gooseberry perk kicks in and then more broad ripe peach. The breadth of fruit is impressive, but is beautifully tempered and ends with finesse and drive. This will benefit from some time. L&S (Oct 2017)

* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.

(100% from Aloxe fruit in Le Charlemagne). A distinctly smoky nose combines notes of mineral-reduction with those of green apples, lavender and spice. The super-intense and well-muscled flavors seem to be built on a firm base of minerality before culminating in an explosively long finish. Note well that like the Montrachet, this presently taciturn effort is very clearly built-to-age and is going to require a minimum of 7 to 8 years of cellaring first and reward far longer. Drinking range: 2031 - Rating: 96 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jun 2018)

Slaty and nutty on the nose, with highly intense cooked apple fruit and very punchy acidity. Potent and powerful, and has the gutsiness to age over a long period. Drinking range: 2018 - 2036 Rating: 17.5++ Richard Hemming MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (Jan 2018)

(75% new oak; 4.4 grams per liter acidity; from vines in Aloxe, which Boillot picked last in 2016 before starting on Pinot Noir): Bright light-medium yellow. Subtly complex, musky aromas of peach, caraway seed, nutmeg, mace and hazelnutty lees. At once densely packed and penetrating, with a stony citric pungency giving precision to the seamless middle palate and cutting through the wine's texture. Wonderfully pure and energetic for this cuvée, finishing tactile and unflagging, with terrific citrus lift. This has the palate-staining length and structure for a slow and graceful evolution in bottle; it's also the only 2016 here that struck me as tannic, but then classic Corton-Charlemagne typically shows structure more like a red wine. Rating: 93-96 Stephen Tanzer, www.vinousmedia.com (Sept 2017)

Henri Boillot complements his domaine wines with a small range of négociant wines of superb quality in very limited quantities. A few of the whites are offered here - an opportunity to buy some of Burgundy's rarest appellations from a top source.

ORDERING VIA OUR WEBSITE:

  • We will respond as quickly as possible with confirmation of your order and your invoice.

Please note that certain wines are on very tight allocations and will first be offered to customers who buy across the range. If you have any queries, please email our primeurs team or speak to your usual L&S contact.

ORDERING VIA EMAIL:

Please feel free to email us at any time. This list can include wines listed as available on the website, as well as those marked 'To Be Advised'. We will reply as soon as possible with confirmation of what we can offer.

STORAGE OPTIONS:

Wines bought en primeur are scheduled to arrive in the UK over the course of the next eighteen months. If you do not wish to take home delivery, you may wish to consider where you would like the wines shipped on arrival in the UK. Lea & Sandeman offers duty paid and in bond storage through a dedicated storage company called Elephant Storage. For more details on the terms and fees associated with storage please go to our Storage Homepage or contact our primeurs team for more information.

While helpful, we do not require a firm commitment on delivery destination to process your primeur order at this stage. Our team will be in contact with you when your wines arrive in the UK to confirm the necessary delivery details.

BURGUNDY EN PRIMEUR FAQ

OFFER: All wines are offered subject to availability and final confirmation.

PRICING: All prices are quoted IN BOND ex-VAT, by the case size stated. Please double check that the desired case size does match what is being offered as wines are variously listed in threes, sixes, dozens, halves and larger formats.

DELIVERY - TIMING: This is a primeur offer so the wines are not yet physically available for delivery. They will be shipped to the UK over the next eighteen months. Generally, wines are shipped to your nominated location once the whole order has landed in our London City Bond account. If you require wines to be delivered by a certain date, please advise us at the time of ordering.

DELIVERY - FEES: In bond delivery to an Elephant Storage account (for more information see 'Storage Options' opposite) is free of charge. Transfer of wines to any third-party bond (i.e. not Elephant Storage) will incur an administration charge of £16.50 + VAT for all orders under £1,000. Please indicate if you would like the wine duty paid and a duty & VAT invoice will be raised once all the wines on your order are available for shipment. Once the relevant duty & VAT has been settled, we will ship the wines to your nominated address as per our normal duty paid Delivery Terms.

PAYMENT: All orders will be invoiced for immediate payment by cheque, cash, debit card or cleared funds to our account. We regret that we cannot accept credit cards for primeur orders. We reserve the right to apply a dunning charge of 2% per month on invoices unpaid after 30 days.