Wine with Bok
9.25/10

Lucien Le Moine Corton Clos du Roi Grand Cru 2018 versus Lange Dundee Hills 2021

We have blind tasted a different vintage of Lange Dundee Hills 2018 compared to today’s 2021 vintage. Our team was utterly impressed with the 2018, as it was the top winning wine in the blind tasting competition. Thus, we decided to field a Burgundy Grand Cru against this Dundee Hills to see how it fared against a top rated Grand Cru. Not much introduction is needed for the negociant house produced Clos du Roi, one of Burgundy’s finest wines. I invited five judges during Chinese New Year to be the judges for this comparison, we have a unanimous vote. Let’s jump to conclusion, Corton Clos du Roi won hands down by its elegance and finesse, though Lange wasn’t far from trying to overwhelm Corton Clos du Roi by its jammy and big fruits, and it was somehow successful. We at Fine Wines believe in sharing facts about wine performances, and truthful with our reports, thus we produced these tasting notes to share with our customers. It doesn’t mean we represent Lange means we need to write favourable reviews for them. We are happy to invite you over when we conduct some blind tastings to have you be the judge as well.

Our three Estate vineyards are located in the Northern Dundee Hills appellation. The AVA is perhaps best known for its rust-red volcanic soils formed by Columbia River Basalts more than 14 million years ago. These rich clay-loam soils, predominantly Jory and Nekia, are deep and well drained. Combined, all three vineyard sites total 60 acres under vine and comprise more than 80 individual vineyard blocks. Planting began in 1988 with Pommard and Wädenswil. Today, the oldest vines in the vineyard are now reaching their zenith at 34+ years of age, and they express terroir-driven power and finesse.

International Wine Report - 95 points
The stunning 2021 Estate Pinot Noir from Lange features a glistening neon ruby core with a light neon pink rim in the glass. It starts off slow in the glass, but after about 10 minutes, this wine is zippy, elegant, and wonderfully delicious. Glorious aromas and flavors of tart sour cherry, lemon zest, black tea, nectarine skin, forest breeze, and juniper berry are perfectly combined. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, the lemony acidity and rounded sweet tannins keep things interesting on the finish. A lovely wine. 

Owen Bargreen - 94 points
A beauty with some nice aging potential, the 2022 ‘Estate’ Pinot Noir by Lange is a great showing from this vintage. Smooth and supple once on the mouth, light tannins frame a beautiful core of red cherry and guava fruits alongside suggestions of salty soils and blood orange zest. This finishes very long as this concentrated, silky Pinot Noir is only just starting to come into its own.

James Suckling - 94 points
This is so attractive and fresh with dark cherries, crushed blueberries, hints of violets, dried pomegranate skins and crushed stones. Delicate and silky on the palate with polished, refined tannins and pure red and blue fruit character, seasoned with some spicy herbs. Textured and lingering. Drink or hold.