94-96pts Neal Martin, Vinous
The 2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru contained so much dry extract that David Croix decided to rack it into older barrels after 12 months instead of into vat. You can tell on the nose what Croix means, because this has a very phenolic bouquet featuring waxy/resinous aromas, peach skin and linseed oil. The palate is rounded and generous, lovely, almost oily in texture, offering enticing notes of apricot, lemon thyme, peach skin and ginger notes, and candied and slightly honeyed on the finish. This is a fabulous Corton-Charlemagne that will be fascinating to revisit once bottled.
93-95pts Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
Racked to tank a month ago, but will go back to barrel, in older wood. Mid yellow in colour with a nutty graphite reduction, all a bit unrefined at the moment. Banana notes, lemon scented, underlying minerals, all the component parts, but temporarily unknit. There is clearly enormous dry extract and very good natural acidity.
Estate Summary
One of my last visits in Burgundy was to see David Croix at his winery tucked just behind Bichot on the Beaune ringroad, next to a superb bistro, La Cantine - if you are in the area. Since departing Domaine Camille Giroud to focus on Domaine des Croix, he has fashioned impressive wines within the Beaune ambit. Like many others, he feels that the appellation does not receive its fair share of applause and when you taste his nascent 2019s, you can see he has a fair point. Candid with self-effacing humour, we briefly discussed the pandemic since cases in France were beginning to escalate, before descending downstairs to his capacious barrel cellar. “Despite the heat wave, the 2019 vintage gives me hope that we can still make classical wines,” he opined. “It has a combination of ripeness and energy. I did not use too much whole cluster this year. The 2018, 2019 and 2020 vintages are all marked by the heat, but they are different. In 2018 I went for early picking and lower sugar/alcohol levels where I used quite a lot of stem addition. In 2019, I felt we needed to wait and therefore alcohol levels are higher with some cuvées above 14.0° and up to 14.7° for the Beaune Tuvilains. Others are in the low 13.0°. I felt that there was already energy and freshness in the grapes that did not need to be added to by the stems. And I didn’t find that energy in the 2018s. I started the picking on 13 September until 20 September. Because of the tension, in the heart of the [alcoholic] fermentation, I did three punch-downs per day because that imparts the flesh and texture that I wanted to bring to most of the wines. There was just a little pumping over at the beginning to start slowly.”
David Croix has crafted a seriously impressive set of 2019s that I believe surpass his 2018s. I always get the impression that he is a winemaker still learning by praxis, getting better year-by-year and fine-tuning his craftsmanship. Taste his Beaune Bressandes or maiden Bas de Teurons, hitherto blended into the Beaune Village, rack them up against a Premier Cru from a more prestigious appellation like Vosne-Romanée or Chambolle-Musigny... They are just as complex and profound, just without the same price tag. His cluster of Grand Crus are outstanding, not least a Corton-Charlemagne that I would like to place in front of others whose quality fails to pass muster.
