{"product_id":"2018-armand-heitz-corton-charlemagne-grand-cru","title":"2018 Armand Heitz Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 2018 Armand Heitz Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is a powerful, sculpted expression of white Burgundy from one of the region’s most storied hillsides. Crafted in tiny quantities from biodynamically farmed vines, it combines the opulence of the 2018 vintage with the chiselled minerality that has made Corton-Charlemagne legendary. This is a serious collector’s white that sits stylistically alongside great Montrachet and Meursault 1er Cru Perrières.\n\nGrand Cru status, a top-tier terroir of marl and clay over limestone, and Armand Heitz’s low-intervention, whole-cluster philosophy give this wine both purity and depth. The Corton-Charlemagne slope has been revered for more than a millennium, with records showing it was gifted in 775 by Emperor Charlemagne himself to the collegiate church of Saint-Andoche in Saulieu – a testament to its long-standing prestige.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTasting Notes\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn the glass, the 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru shows a luminous, pale gold color with green reflections, hinting at both richness and freshness. Swirling reveals a glycerol sheen, speaking to concentration and extract. \n\nThe nose is complex and layered: stone fruits (white peach, nectarine) and ripe citrus (lemon zest, mandarin) are wrapped in notes of acacia blossom, fresh almond, and hazelnut. With air, more tertiary nuances emerge – warm brioche, buttered toast, beeswax, and a distinct chalky, wet-stone minerality that is the hallmark of great Corton-Charlemagne. Subtle hints of flint, fennel, and a touch of spice from élevage complete the aromatic profile.\n\nOn the palate, the wine is both broad and precise. A generous, creamy texture carries flavors of ripe pear, yellow plum, citrus oil, and a touch of pineapple, balanced by a firm spine of saline, limestone-driven acidity. The marl and clay soils lend power and volume, while the high, steep slopes bring lift and tension. The finish is very long, tapering slowly with lingering notes of citrus zest, toasted nuts, and cool stone. Despite the richness of the 2018 vintage, the wine remains harmonious and tightly knit.\n\nThis Corton-Charlemagne has serious aging potential. While already enticing in its youth with primary fruit and fine oak integration, it will benefit greatly from 5–7 years in bottle to fully harmonize. At peak, roughly 8–20 years from the vintage, expect more truffle, honey, and hazelnut complexity, alongside an even more pronounced mineral core.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProduction\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCorton-Charlemagne sits at the natural frontier between Côte de Nuits and Côte de Beaune, on the upper, steep slopes of the Corton hill between 280 and 330 meters above sea level, largely facing southwest. This exposure ensures excellent ripening while retaining freshness in the grapes, here Chardonnay, rooted in a patchwork of marl soils rich in clay and alternating beds of limestone beneath a thin layer of rendzina topsoil. This unique geological cross-section gives both power and tension to the wine. At Domaine Heitz-Lochardet, the vineyards are farmed according to organic and fully biodynamic principles, with a strong focus on agroecology and regenerative agriculture to encourage biodiversity and soil life. Harvesting is done by hand, parcel by parcel, with strict selection in the vineyard and often again at the winery to ensure only perfectly healthy, ripe fruit is used. In the cellar, Armand Heitz follows a minimal-intervention philosophy inspired by classic Burgundian practices: gentle pressing, native yeast fermentations, and élevage in carefully chosen French oak barrels (a judicious use of new oak to frame, not mask, the terroir). The estate is known for whole-cluster fermentations, a hallmark of their style and approach, even in their whites, allowing the wines to gain structure, aromatic complexity, and a strong sense of place.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood \u0026amp; Serving\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis Grand Cru white Burgundy calls for refined, flavourful cuisine. It is superb with butter-poached lobster, scallops in a light cream or beurre blanc sauce, turbot or sole with beurre noisette, and richly sauced white fish. Classic Burgundy pairings such as roast Bresse chicken with morels, veal in a cream reduction, or guinea fowl with truffle are also excellent, as are aged Comté, Beaufort, or mildly nutty hard cheeses. Serve at 11–13°C (52–55°F) to showcase both aromatics and structure; too cold will mute its complexity. Young bottles will benefit from 30–60 minutes in a decanter to open up the nose and relax the palate, while mature bottles should be handled gently, with just a brief, careful splash decant if necessary to separate any sediment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProducer\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDomaine Heitz-Lochardet’s roots reach back to 1857, when the Lochardet family began assembling a patchwork of important Burgundy parcels, eventually totaling around 20 hectares under Georges Lochardet, a well-regarded négociant. On his death, half the holdings passed to his son Armand, and the modern chapter of the domaine began when Armand’s daughter Brigitte married Christian Heitz in 1983, giving rise a few years later to Domaine Heitz-Lochardet. For many years, the family’s grapes were sold to Maison Joseph Drouhin, which also farmed the vineyards. In 2011, after completing his oenology studies, the next generation, Armand Heitz, began reclaiming his mother’s vineyards and converting them to full biodynamic cultivation, guided by consultant oenologist Ludovic Pierrot, formerly of the legendary Domaine Leflaive. Since his first independent vintage in 2013, Armand has rapidly elevated the estate into the ‘Premier League’ of Burgundy, with highly regarded holdings in Chassagne-Montrachet, Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru, Meursault, Pommard, Volnay and Bourgogne Rouge and Blanc. The domaine’s philosophy—“to work with nature”—underpins its focus on agroecology, biodiversity, and low-intervention winemaking, yielding aromatic, impeccably balanced wines that clearly express their terroirs and are now widely recognized among Burgundy enthusiasts and critics alike.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domaine Heitz-Lochardet","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54251846140241,"sku":"GCW-MMUI-20190940","price":480.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0874\/0614\/9969\/files\/35839015-1e62-4c03-97ec-c6f583cf4f75.png?v=1783441806","url":"https:\/\/bottlehero.com\/products\/2018-armand-heitz-corton-charlemagne-grand-cru","provider":"Bottle Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}