(no hail here, says Boillot): Bright yellow. Reticent but pure aromas of peach flesh, nutmeg and musky crushed stone. Distinctly airy and taut following the Montrachet sample, showing outstanding energy and crushed-stone minerality to the salty lemon and white peach flavors. Wonderfully dry, classic Corton-Charlemagne with outstanding clarity and lift on the rising finish. Boasts a rare combination of richness and inner-mouth tension. Like Boillot's other top 2012s, this will need a good seven or eight years of cellaring and should be long-lived.

A wine of focus and clarity, the 2012 Corton-Charlemagne is a fitting finale to this overview of 2012 whites. The flavors are bright and chiseled in this dazzling, energetic Corton, but also given an extra kick of volume by the intensity of the vintage. All the elements fall into place beautifully here. The 2012 is intense, yet retains all of its signatures. Henri Boillot, with his characteristic dry wit, adds there was no hail in this parcel in 2012, but no juice either.

Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2012 tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru from Henri Boillot has quite a powerful bouquet with touches of dried honey and yellow flowers, though you have to swerve around noticeable reduction. The palate has decent weight, quite forward in the mouth with bitter lemon and dried orange peel notes. The finish is missing finesse and poise at first but it recovers to a degree if not quite fulfilling all its ambition. Give it a couple more years to find its groove.