2020 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru

The 2020 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru from the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti has turned out beautifully, offering up aromas of crisp pear and green apple mingled with notions of hazelnuts, lime zest, white flowers, nutmeg and freshly baked bread. Full-bodied, satiny and concentrated, it's ample but incisive, with a vibrant spine of acidity and chalky structuring extract. Combining the depth and intensity of flavor of 2019 with supplemental cut and tension, it's a step up in quality from that excellent debut vintage.

The 2020 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru has quite a bit of reduction on the nose at the moment. Dried honey, light hazelnut notes, a touch of smoke. The palate is well balanced with a creamy-textured entry, a fine line of acidity, citrus peel, chamomile and a touch of white peach on the end. This is very refined with real horsepower towards the finish, but it clearly has a way to go.