2014 DRC Corton

Bright medium red. Wild perfume of strawberry, raspberry, pepper, caramel and earth. Lovely precision and lift to the tangy raspberry, cherry and spice flavors complicated by saline minerality. Quite tight today, showing a restrained sweetness. Finishes with firm-edged, slightly tough tannins and excellent length. A very good vintage for this grand cru blend.

The 2014 Corton Grand Cru was picked on 16 September at 25 hectoliters per hectare. It has a beguiling bouquet with wonderful lift and transparency: morello cherry, crushed strawberry, a touch of orange blossom, aromas that are beautifully defined. The palate is well balanced with a little chalkiness on the entry. It is brimming with quite feisty tart red fruit, a little spicier than previous vintages. The finish is elegant and refined, not as complex as I suspect the 2015 Corton will eventually become, yet there is wonderful harmony and mineralité in situ. One of the more "airy" Cortons from the domaine. 483 cases produced. Tasted February 2017.

Lightish cherry (but the samples are – understandably – so small and the glasses so big it is difficult to see the colour). Pretty and delicate on the nose. Refined notes of red fruit with just a touch of spice but really very quiet. On the palate this has unexpected intensity while remaining scented. The intensity is so subtle but still unmissable. Just a very slight note of cedar/stem spice but remaining sweet, the spice becoming more present in the glass. Beautifully balanced freshness and great length. The super-fine tannins are giving a subtle but definite shape to the fruit. (JH)