2018 Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Pierre Millemann
£925 per bottle in bond
We are pleased to offer a small parcel of the 2018 Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru from Pierre Millemann - available by the individual bottle. Produced in minute quantities and not widely seen in the market, this is one of Burgundy's most intriguing modern micro-cuvées, crafted by a winemaker whose reputation rests not on marketing or scale, but on decades of experience advising some of Europe's finest wine estates.
Pierre Millemann's background is unusually broad. Born to an Alsatian father and Breton mother and raised largely in Anjou, he trained in agronomy, phytopathology and oenology before spending fifteen years as a professional winemaker. After settling in Burgundy in 2001, he established a consultancy business that today extends across Burgundy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Piedmont, Alto Adige and the United States. You might soon get the idea that he is highly skilled and experienced!
In 2017, Pierre, together with his wife Stéphanie and daughter Charlotte, embarked on a remarkably ambitious personal project: the production of tiny quantities of Grand Cru Burgundy from vineyards belonging to growers with whom he consults. The concept is straightforward but compelling. Pierre works alongside these growers, vinifying the wines with them before retaining a single barrel for his own label. Production remains microscopic - the sources are not declared. Alongside Chambertin, Bonnes-Mares and Corton-Renardes, his Corton-Charlemagne is produced from just one 500-litre barrel. Latterly he has also developed a range of Premier Cru.
For collectors, the attraction lies not only in the scarcity of the wines but also in the precision of their execution. Jasper Morris MW has written admiringly of Millemann's ability to balance open-minded experimentation with meticulous control, describing a winemaker for whom ‘all may be dared, but nothing is left to chance.’ Every detail is carefully considered. The fruit for the white wines is crushed before pressing, the lees are largely retained during élevage and sulphur additions are deliberately delayed until well after malolactic fermentation. Even bottling is approached with uncommon precision, with the wines bottled unfined and unfiltered according to biodynamic principles and sealed with specially selected corks and bespoke bottle neck dimensions designed to minimise oxygen ingress over the long term. Detail, detail, detail.
The result is a style that combines concentration with remarkable tension and energy, qualities that are especially evident in the finest white wines of 2018.
2018 Corton-Charlemagne, Grand Cru, Pierre Millemann
£925 per single bottle in bond (individually cased – 12 bottles available)
95-97 points, Jasper Morris MW, Insideburgundy.com, June 2020
This wine makes an immediate impression with its full, daffodil yellow colour and spectacularly classy nose: the product of a sunny vintage for sure, but calmed by an ideal level of reduction or reductivity. There is an astonishingly graceful texture here, the fruit sweeping over the stones, with a delicious floral quality lying in wait also. Heady yet scintillating.
For those who enjoy discovering new Burgundian producers, Pierre Millemann represents a particularly compelling proposition. The combination of Grand Cru terroir, microscopic production, meticulous winemaking and growing critical acclaim has already attracted a devoted following.
And should I add that the hunt for cult wines, however anyone defines them, sent the price of this vintage of Millemann Corton-Charlemagne skyrocketing to over £2000 a bottle before the market corrected!
Please let us know of your interest.
Simon
simon.larkin@atlasfinewines.com