Small Format, Huge Value
2010 Bouchard Le Corton Half-Bottles
A Grand Cru Speaking Loud and Clear
"Bouchard has long made an outstanding example of Corton and the 2010 version is superb." -John Gilman
The hill of Corton is one of the last frontiers for elite Burgundy. The potential for making great, ageworthy wine here is huge.
This largely untapped potential hasn't escaped the Burgundians. After all, the area's most recent investor is none other than DRC.
Today, we turn our attention to one of our favorite of Corton's Grand Crus in half-bottle, 2010 Bouchard Le Corton.
Why half-bottles? The advantages are numerous. To begin, Bouchard's Le Corton is already one of the great Grand Cru values out there, but in half-bottle the price of admission is even less Also, there are times when you want to open wine, but for whatever the reason a whole bottle is too big of a commitment. Finally, wine matures faster in half-bottles. Bouchard's Le Corton is a real distance runner, so earlier drinkability is a very good thing for those of us without infinite patience.
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Before going any further, we should underscore just how rare half bottles of Grand Cru Burgundies are. On Bouchard's 2010 Le Corton in particular, half bottles are only available in two other places in the U.S.
Le Corton, at its best, presents a satin sheet of pure fruit draped over solid rock - the effect is ethereal as well as powerful and saturating.
Bouchard has largely defined Le Corton for most of the 20th Century. Numerous examples still stand as monuments to the longevity that this vineyard can achieve. Burghound speaks of a 1926 tasted 80 years later that was still on point; the 55 and 61 are both legends.
Then there is this crazy streak the estate has been on since 2005. If you go by the Burghound's estimations, Bouchard has never made better Le Cortons than they have in the last five vintages and the 2010 stands right there at the top.
Burghound's thoughts on the 2010 can be summed up in two words:"Don't miss" (though the complete review is worth the time, reproduced below). The 2010 Le Corton is concentrated, deeply so, even sappy, yet this meat is married to a fresh, glacier-esque minerality, a crystal clear vividness.There's muscle and an almost painfully intense mid-palate that's rendered with a captivating fineness and detail and backed by superb energy.
At this level of elegance and complexity, Bouchard's 2010 Le Corton is indeed not to be missed. The purity of the 2010 vintage allows grandeur of Le Corton to speak loud and clear.
2010 is a short vintage with yields down 30-40%. As such, this is only going out to people who have supported the Burgundy program. Still, demand will likely exceed supply.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare Wines
Crush Wine & Spirits
Burghound: "A brooding but impressively complex nose features notes of red currant, plum, earth and plenty of that Corton sauvage character. The textured, intense and broad-shouldered flavors possess excellent mid-palate concentration with fully mature structural elements. There is ample buffering sap, which is important as one would reasonably expect, this is a big and sleekly muscled wine with an explosively long, linear and overtly austere finish. The potential here is mostly impressive though note that plenty of patience is requisite."