(92-95 points) Clear bright fresh purple. Light clay, red coloured on top of hard Corton limestone. Lively deep plums and some dark raspberry, very slinky and seductive with some black fruit on the palate, but retains a lively limestone feel to it. Very persistent.

A domaine wine, Bouchard farms this on their 8.77 acres on the east face of the Corton hill. The hot, dry vintage played into that exposition toward the morning sun, yielding a wine with notes of licorice amped up in flavors of dark cherry skin, lasting with a warm glow. Tasted over the course of several days, it holds to its Corton satisfaction, tense and vibrant, with intriguing layers and meaty depths. Cozy and cuddly if you decant it now, this is a wine for long aging.

In 2018 the picking began on 5th September and yielded a rich, ripe red and black berry fruit character, yet there was no sense of excess, and the wine retained a pleasant freshness despite the heat. The tannins are firm, the texture rewardingly dense, and the finish is long. Produced from the large parcel purchased from the Moyne Jacqueminot family with an east-southeast exposure, just below the portion dedicated to Chardonnay.

The 2018 Le Corton Grand Cru has turned out very nicely in bottle, offering up a deep and complex bouquet of cassis, wild berries, grilled meats, black truffle, blood orange and sweet forest floor. Medium to full-bodied, deep and muscular, it's layered and concentrated, with powdery tannins, lively acids and a long, sapid finish. While this is a powerful, structured wine, it's also very refined, and this is one 2018 that will offer a broad drinking window.- WK

(91-93 points) The 2018 Le Corton Grand Cru comes from an east-facing vineyard on clayey soils over limestone at 300m altitude. It has a fresh raspberry and cranberry bouquet with touches of rose petal and orange peel. The palate offers a pleasant bitter cherry note on the entry, which leads to a finely structured, gently grippy midpalate and a commendable, nicely proportioned finish that is fresh and quite long. This is certainly worth seeking out. -- Neal Martin