The Bernard Dugat-Py Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2019 is an exceptional French white wine produced in the iconic Burgundy region. This esteemed producer, Bernard Dugat-Py, is revered for his traditional winemaking approach, using minimal intervention to allow the quality of the fruit to shine through. This Grand Cru wine is carefully crafted from hand-picked Chardonnay grapes grown on the south-west facing limestone slopes of the Corton-Charlemagne vineyard. Its maturation in French oak barrels contributes to the wine's elegance and complexity.

The Bernard Dugat-Py Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2019 boasts an intricate bouquet of apples and peaches, underlined by delicate notes of butter and toast. On the palate, it offers a harmonious balance of rich fruit flavours and refreshing mineral undertones, leading to a long and refined finish. An ideal companion for fine dining, it complements dishes with nuanced flavours, such as lobster or roasted poultry.

Jeb Dunnuck (98-100)

The same 60/40 split of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, brought up in new oak, the 2018 Tench Vineyard EE Red Wine is another incredibly pure, complex, yet powerful 2018. Rocking levels of crème de cassis, spring flowers, chocolate, and graphite give way to a full-bodied, pure, and seamless wine that has incredible potential.

Wine Advocate (97-99+)

A barrel sample, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Tench Vineyard is deep garnet-purple colored and skips out of the glass with bright, cheery blackberries, crushed blackcurrants and plum preserves scents with hints of menthol, bay leaves and candied violets. Full-bodied, the palate is bombastic and juicy with plush tannins and lively acid, finishing long.

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (93-97)

A low key lemon and lime colour. Clean fresh and classic on the nose. A very typical fresh stony palate, lightly washed in citrus, with enough flesh to provide the body necessary for ageing, and a fine, long, persistently mineral finish. Drink from 2027-2035. Tasted: November 2022

Wine Advocate (92)

The 2015 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has a lovely bouquet: hints of grilled almond and pine nuts fusing with the citrus fruit, tight at first but opening nicely with aeration. The palate is very well balanced, tightly-bound at the moment, not a heavy or powerful Corton-Charlemagne, but sporting a very attractive, fresh and stony, slightly reserved finish. Nothing extraordinary or overly-ambitious, nevertheless, this is a well-made Corton-Charlemagne from the domaine.

Decanter (96)

The Faiveley holdings add up to 0.87ha on variety of soil types and altitudes, but they are all comparatively cool. This was picked late as a result on September 4th and marries richness, weight and honeyed complexity with vibrant, mineral-edged acidity and scented oak. A textbook Corton-Charlemagne from a year that didn't lend itself to classic wines.

James Suckling (99)

This is luxurious red for the vintage with velvety tannins that give it superb depth and richness. Lots of tile, dry earth, clay and chocolate. Full-bodied, but almost weightless in the sensibility of the wine. It goes on for minutes. Lovely dried oranges and savory, fruity and forest-floor character at the end. 80% cabernet sauvignon, 14% cabernet franc, 4% petit verdot and 2% merlot. Unfined and unfiltered. Drink in 2025.

Vinous (91+)

Very ripe, lightly resiny aromas of apple, hay, nuts, ginger, minerals and exotic flowers. Youthfully disjointed on the palate, combining penetrating liquid minerality and strong, almost citrussy acidity; I wanted a bit more balancing fruit. Very chewy, salty, concentrated wine with a finishing suggestion of crab apple that suggests late harvesting. With its pronounced acid element, this is tough going today.

Wine Advocate (95)

The most youthfully reserved wine in the cellar was the 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, a promising bottling that opens up to reveal scents of citrus zest, dried white flowers, green apple and pastry cream. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with racy acids and prodigious levels of searingly chalky dry extract that lend this wine incredible structure.

Wine Advocate (95)

The most youthfully reserved wine in the cellar was the 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, a promising bottling that opens up to reveal scents of citrus zest, dried white flowers, green apple and pastry cream. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, layered and multidimensional, with racy acids and prodigious levels of searingly chalky dry extract that lend this wine incredible structure.

Wine Advocate (95)

Produced from purchased grapes, the 2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is serious and structured, enforcing a change of pace after the series of Puligny-Montrachet grands crus. Mingling notes of pear and citrus oil with hints of toasted bread, white flowers and praline, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and chalky, with palpable structuring dry extract and tangy balancing acids.

Wine Advocate (92-94)

The 2016 Corton Charlemagne came from a one-year-old barrel (there will also be a new and two-year-old barrel). It has a straightforward, brioche-tinged bouquet that opens nicely in the glass, with hints of peaches and cream, later gooseberry tart. The palate is well balanced, honeyed in texture with notes of dried apricot, frangipane and a hint of honey. It does not quite deliver the length, but this is undoubtedly a well crafted Corton-Charlemagne from Jean-Michel that will give immense pleasure over the next 10 to 15 years.

Vinous (93-95)

The 2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru comes from Charlemagne and the Pernand side of the hill, comprises two barrels from the domaine and three barrels from two other sources. It comes across surprisingly closed on the nose. Maybe just going through a dumb phase of élevage? The palate is medium-bodied and much more expressive, gorgeous yellow plum and pithy/peachy notes with a caressing finish. Once the aromatics awaken, this should be a very seductive "CC".

Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy (92-94)

Very pale colour and where is the bouquet? Here it comes now, slowly. More generous in the mouth with a slight creamy edge, backed by a few stones. It is certainly a good wine, but without the extra drive of the very best in this cellar. Tasted: October 2021

Decanter (95)

The east-facing climat of Les Languettes supplies all the fruit for this domaine white from Joseph Drouhin, so this is not an over powerful Corton-Charlemagne. Instead, it's built around a core of freshness and minerality with coiled, underlying concentration and stylish, scented 30% new wood. Racy and refined with some (skin) tannic grip.

Vinous (92-94)

The 2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru was a small yield this year, with just three barrels produced instead of the usual six. It has an understated bouquet of light dandelion and patisserie aromas. The well-balanced palate displays fine delineation and a tang of marmalade toward the finish. This is a nicely composed Corton-Charlemagne, though I wager it will be best consumed within its first decade.

Vinous (92)

The 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has a light and slightly earthy nose, a touch of orange pith emerging with time. The palate displays good weight and concentration, offering candied orange peel and lemon zest and turning a little peachy toward the finish, all underpinned by a fine bead of acidity and decent length. This should drink well for 12–15 years. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Savigny-lès-Beaune.

Tim Atkin MW (96)

This comes from southern-facing vines and possesses an exotic collection of aromas. Among them are bananas, rainwater, sweet spice and dried flowers. Gorgeously scented with an equally perfumed palate that haunts the long finish, this is very much a beckoning, come-hither kind of wine. Again, the various appellations of Corton just crush it in this vintage! 2022-34

Wine Advocate (91-93+)

The 2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is also quite promising, exhibiting aromas of pear, buttered citrus fruit, honeycomb, toasted almonds and white flowers. Full-bodied, satiny and rich, with a fleshy core of fruit and good underlying freshness, I hope it can repeat this fine performance from bottle.

Vinous (93-95)

The 2020 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, the only cuvée that was not bottled when I tasted it, has a well-defined bouquet with crushed rock filtering through the citrus fruit, kernals of orange rind and litchi. The palate is well balanced with an aniseed tinged entry, good depth and vibrancy with a dash of spice, stem ginger, on the finish. Excellent.

Wine Advocate (98+)

A blend of 94% Cabernet Sauvignon and 6% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Oakville Estate Proprietary Red Wine was aged for 22 months in French oak barrels, 55% new. Deep garnet-purple colored, it sashays out of the glass with flamboyant scents of candied violets, red roses, black raspberries and fragrant earth over a core of cassis, wild blueberries and Morello cherries with a waft of pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, the palate is an exercise in poise, featuring beautifully balanced velvety tannins and seamless freshness framing the opulent black and red berry layers, finishing very long and perfumed. 670 cases were made.

Wine Spectator (94)

'#1 in Wine Spectator Top 100 2022' - Packs in generous steeped plum, boysenberry and mulberry flavors backed by a broad swath of roasted alder and bittersweet cocoa. Brimming with dense fruit, and is squarely in the not-shy style. The long finish has a serious loamy tug, too. Best from 2023 through 2035. 10,000 cases made.

Jeb Dunnuck (100)

The 2015 Screaming Eagle is another monumental wine from this address, and it's one of those cases where if you afford it, you should buy it. A blend of 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Merlot and the rest Cabernet Franc, this magical elixir boasts a deep purple color as well as a blockbuster bouquet of blueberries, creme de cassis, violets, incense, and cedarwood. Reminding me of the 2015 Château Margaux with its off the charts class and purity, it’s full-bodied, thrillingly textured, and has a finish that just won't quit. This legendary wine is going to keep for 30-40 years.

Wine Advocate (97+)

Beautiful floral notes intermixed with creme de cassis, licorice and charcoal jump from the glass of this dense purple-colored 2002. Opulent, broad, full-bodied and more mature than I expected given how this wine showed in its youth, this deep, rich Cabernet Sauvignon is exceptional. However, in this vintage it has to take a back seat to a number of other cuvees. The final blend was 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot and 2% Cabernet Franc.

James Suckling (100)

The subtle and nuanced aromas to this are so enticing with perfumed, floral, blackcurrant and blackberry character. Roses, too. Some lavender. Full-bodied yet so refined and polished with the most transparent and polished texture. Firm and seamless. So beautiful now. Give it three or four years to come around, but this already sings.

Wine Advocate (100)

Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, the 2018 Screaming Eagle soars out of the glass with vibrant notions of ripe blackberries, black cherries and fresh red and black currants plus wafts of licorice, candied violets, cedar chest and clove oil with a beguiling touch of sea spray. Medium-bodied with jaw-dropping elegance, the palate is finely textured and yet built like a brick house with a super taut backbone and exquisitely knit acidity. The intense black and red fruit flavors are accented by layers of mineral and floral notions, finishing with incredible length and depth. Undeniably stunning. “I loved it!” winemaker Nick Gislason told me when I asked him for his thoughts on the 2018 vintage. “Everything is just really perfumey with a lot of verve and a lot of freshness. It’s a wholesome vintage, if that makes sense? The canopies were big and healthy; there was a lot of life in the vineyard. After 2017, it felt like the bloom that comes afterward.” He went on to say, "We made a little 2017 red. Only four barrels of the Cab! Ten barrels of The Flight. Only from grapes that came in before the fires—mainly Merlot and a couple of blocks of Cabernet." Whereas Screaming Eagle is mainly sourced from Cabernet Sauvignon grown on the western side of the estate, there is one plot of old Merlot (1980s plantings) on the eastern side of the vineyard that continually makes the backbone of this Second Flight/The Flight. This is planted on very gravelly, well-drained soils. Gislason explained, “The Cabernet Sauvignon for The Flight is always about being fresh, light and perfumey, without the firmer tannins that Cabernet can sometimes give. There is a ‘fresh’ end of the property that this tends to come from. There is some other Merlot on the other side of the property that doesn’t have the acidity, perfume or brightness we’re looking for. We don’t use this in The Flight.”

Wine Advocate (98)

The 2017 Sauvignon Blanc is 100% Sauvignon Blanc, coming from a small section of estate vines closer to the Napa river. It is entirely fermented in French oak, but only about 5% is new. The grapes are pressed straight to barrels and kept on their gross lees. The wine is fermented using native yeasts. This vintage, the nose is not at all shy—it comes bounding out of the glass with exuberant scents of ripe peaches, passion fruit and musk perfume plus wafts of honeycomb, elderflower, ripe gooseberries and lemongrass with a waft of Bosc pears. The palate is super intense and yet ethereally weighted, light-bodied and oh-so-fine, elegant and refreshing, featuring a whole array of chalk and sea spray sparks, creating a shimmer to all the many citrus and stone fruit layers, finishing with great length and energy. There is a truly interesting phenolic texture to the palate that reminds me of some Chardonnays, particularly Burgundian examples. Winemaker Nick Gislason commented that the gross lees contain a lot of phenolic content, which is where the wine picks up that textural component. Love it!

Vinous (98)

The 2016 The Flight is gorgeous. Dark, brooding and closed in on itself, the 2016 is going to need a number of years to be at its very best, but it is incredibly beguiling today. Plum, black cherry, lavender, blood orange menthol, and a host of more mineral-driven notes punctuate this super-expressive wine. This is a decidedly tannic and powerful edition of The Flight. I can't wait to see how it ages. Bottled just six weeks before this tasting, the 2016 appears to have a very bright future. Time in the glass brings out some of the softer edges that will almost surely emerge with cellaring. The Flight is built on a core of older Merlot vines from the southeast corner of the estate. It is an absolutely riveting wine from Screaming Eagle.