Charlemagne Grand Cru Reviews

The 2021 Charlemagne Grand Cru comes from two parcels, the En Charlemagne lieu-dit picked a week after Le Charlemagne. This has one of my favourite noses from Vougeraie; it's quite refined and complex, more mineraldriven with hints of dried white flowers. The palate is well balanced with a tangy opening, fresh and crisp with a touch of bitter lemon and orange rind towards the finish. This should age well in bottle and conveys a sense of class.

The 2020 Charlemagne Grand Cru has a well-defined and quite focused bouquet with admirable mineralité and tension. The palate is taut and fresh, impressive in terms of depth, quite focused and poised with a touch of sea salt towards the finish. Lots of energy here - this is one of Vougeraie’s best whites.

The 2016 Charlemagne Grand Cru was showing some reduction on the nose, although there was a subtle peppermint scent that gradually eked out with aeration. The palate is lively and tensile with a crisp line of acidity, bright and vivacious with good density on the spiced finish. I adore the persistence here—a Charlemagne with great potential, perhaps one of the best ever produced from these parcels. Kingly!

Now labeled just “Charlemagne” sans its prefix, which its two plots are perfectly entitled to, the 2013 Charlemagne Grand Cru was 80% damaged by the hail storm, which equates to four barrels. It has a well-defined, lightly honeyed bouquet with fine definition and intensity. The palate is vibrant with convincing mineralité, just a touch of reduction lending complexity with very good weight on the sour-lemon finish. Excellent.