Marsannay Cuvée Charlie, Domaine Charles Audoin 2016

Audoin’s most heavily frosted parcels, which would normally have yielded thirty barrels of wine between them, bottled as a number of different cuvées, only produced four barrels in 2016 - amounting to a paltry yield of 3hl/ha. He therefore opted to vinify and raise them together, making a special cuvée named in honour of his daughter who was born a day before the 2016 harvest began. As a compensation for the tiny quantity, the wine is absolutely superb and a benchmark for what is possible in Marsannay. A deep bouquet of black cherry, wild blueberry, rich soil and a discrete framing of new wood lead into a palate with amazing depth, concentration and energy. There's amplitude and dimension to rival the Côte de Nuits’ best premiers crus. (Drink between 2025-2040)

A discreet application of wood sets off the pure extract of red cherry, currant and soft earth aromas. There is terrific intensity to the equally pure medium-bodied flavors that brim with both minerality and dry extract, all wrapped in a firm, dusty and strikingly long finale. This should age exceptionally well and especially so in magnum format. (Drink starting 2031)