Thirty percent new oak here. The nose offers-up understated complexity. Not surprisingly this is both fuller and more intense than the 1er Cru. I find it very well proportioned indeed.

The grapes are from Pernand, and this was bottled in September. A deep nose showing a little brioche. This starts very mineral and tight in the mouth but then bursts across the mid-palate before slowly decaying. Powerful and very well balanced. Super.

Light colour. Tight, mineral, less obviously ripe. Austere and concentrated – probably what most 5/6 year-old Charlemagnes would aspire to!

Quite pale. A pure and understated nose that gives few hints to the depth to come. The palate shows quite a fat attack becoming more mineral on the mid-palate and into the finish. Slowly fading length. Has classic Charlemagne attack, but the overall style is closer to the understatement of 2001 from Bonneau du Martray than the outright power of Henri Boillot’s 2001. I bought a couple more of these.