Corton Charlemagne, Bouchard Père et Fils 2002

The expressive nose is now fully mature with notes of wet stone, soft white orchard fruit and green apple hints that introduce beautifully detailed and still impressively intense medium-bodied flavors that have mellowed considerably, all wrapped in a balanced, long and attractively vibrant finish that is tangy, clean and dry. I quite like the sense of refinement as this is at once classy and pure. While the '02 Corton-Charlemagne will certainly hold at this level for years to come, for my taste it has arrived at the front edge of its peak drinkability. Lovely juice.

Very pale color. Steely aromas of lime, apple blossom, crushed stone and mint; has the almost metallic minerality of a top Chablis grand cru. Then dense, penetrating and pure, with palate-saturating flavors of minerals and lemon ice. As young and minerally as this is, it's not especially austere or hard. Finishes smooth, extremely subtle and very long, with lemon and spice notes. My style of Burgundy, very Chablis-like in its penetrating, stony character. Likely to develop in bottle for 15 years or more.