The 2019 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is rich and unctuous, wafting from the glass with aromas of citrus oil, pear, waxy lemon rind, honeycomb and toasted sesame. Full-bodied, deep and textural, it's rich and enveloping, with a huge core of fleshy fruit underpinned by lively acids and chalky structuring extract.

Aromas of honeyed pears, white flowers, hazelnuts, wet stones, mandarin oil and apricot introduce Leroy's 2018 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, a full-bodied, layered and concentrated wine built around lively acids and chalky structuring dry extract. Long and penetrating, it's a comparatively giving, sun-kissed rendition of this sometimes austerely mineral cuvée.

The 2017 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru is the least youthfully reductive young white I have ever tasted from Domaine Leroy. Opening in the glass with scents of crisp green pear, lemon oil, white flowers, toasted sesame and struck match, it's full-bodied, multidimensional and incisive, with huge reserves of chalky dry extract that are more reminiscent of a red wine than a white, concluding with a long and penetrating finish. "This parcel ought to be planted to Pinot Noir," observes Madame Bize-Leroy, but I suspect that in such an eventuality the structure of the ensuing red cuvée wouldn't be all that different. Despite that structure and all the wine's energy and tension, this is a comparatively open, expressive vintage for the Domaine's Corton-Charlemagne.

Aromas of citrus oil, beeswax, smoky pear, toasted nuts and an exotic top-note of candied angelica introduce the 2016 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru, a full-bodied, searingly concentrated wine that's structured around chewy dry extract more reminiscent of red wine, than white wine. Deep, concentrated and tight-knit, this is a stunning Corton-Charlemagne but it will require extended bottle age to attain its true plenitude of expression.

The 2015 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru from Domaine Leroy opens in the glass with a bright bouquet of apple, lemon oil, wheat toast and smoke, framed by light reduction. On the palate, the wine is incredibly concentrated and intense, with a formidable structure and chalky extract that would be more familiar in a red wine and has a long, intense, almost searing finish. This was cropped at a mere 15 hectoliters per hectare, but while Chardonnay at yields like this can become overbearing, this Corton-Charlemagne—even in this sunny vintage—avoids any excess of weight or any trace of corpulence. It's built for the long haul.