With the Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2022, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti vinifies a wine from the Côte de Beaune that occupies a special place within the estate’s portfolio. Spanning roughly 3 hectares on the Montagne de Corton across the communes of Aloxe-Corton and Pernand-Vergelesses, these parcels have been farmed by the Domaine since 2019 under a long-term lease. The high-altitude Grand Cru benefits from limestone-rich soils and an exposed, well-ventilated setting that imbues Chardonnay not only with richness, but also with the tension and minerality typical of Corton-Charlemagne. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti only began vinifying this Grand Cru in 2009, bringing its mastery from the great Pinot Noir vineyards to one of Burgundy’s most revered white wines.

The 2022 vintage was shaped by a warm, dry growing season. A very early budbreak was followed by rapid flowering and a hot summer, with mid-August rains arriving at just the right moment. The Corton-Charlemagne harvest took place on September 8 and 13. The fruit was exceptionally healthy and ripe, yet the wine retained remarkable freshness. Far from causing dilution, the generous crop of the vintage reflects what the Domaine describes in 2022 as a year of extraordinarily healthy, perfectly ripened grapes.

In the glass, the wine opens with a still-reserved yet distinctly noble bouquet. Ripe citrus and yellow orchard fruits mingle with white blossoms, fresh pear, and quince. Beneath lie delicate notes of fresh nuts, a touch of beeswax, and the stony minerality characteristic of the site. With air, the wine gains considerable depth, increasingly revealing a creamy, savory dimension. At this early stage, the aromatics remain somewhat tightly knit and closed—hardly surprising given its concentration and long-term aging potential.

On the palate, the Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2022 combines the generous fruit of the vintage with a clear, taut structure. The texture is full and supple, yet the wine remains focused through its bright acidity and mineral tension. Yellow fruits, citrus zest, and quince are accompanied by subtle nutty and spicy nuances. Minerality emerges with increasing clarity across the palate, lending the wine a chalky, faintly saline edge. The finish leaves behind remarkable length, where fruit, acidity, and stony savor are tightly interwoven. Early tastings of the vintage describe it as deep, pure, and powerful, yet carried by pronounced energy and minerality.

Vinification follows the precise, restrained approach of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The Chardonnay is gently pressed and fermented and aged in oak, where the goal is never the overt imprint of wood, but rather the purest possible expression of grape variety and origin. Already in youth, this Corton-Charlemagne possesses remarkable density, though it requires time for its initially reserved aromatics to unfurl and for the mineral dimension of the Grand Cru to come fully to the fore.

The Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2022 is a powerful yet precise white Burgundy whose stature is defined by far more than fruit richness alone. Its singular quality lies in the synthesis of ripe yellow fruit, creamy texture, taut acidity, and the chalky minerality of the Montagne de Corton. While the wine still feels young and somewhat reticent, it is precisely this restraint that makes its future evolution so compelling. With bottle age, the primary fruit will be increasingly complemented by notes of hazelnut, brioche, smoke, spice, and an ever more prominent stony depth.