Category: Listed top 5s

Listed – top 5 Corton-Charlemagnes by Brand score

As the temperature drops, the natural reaction can be to reach for structured reds and hearty meals. The great Chardonnays of Corton-Charlemagne also warm the cockles, and belong in pride of place on any Christmas table. Here we look at the appellation’s top five brands.

Wine Lister’s Brand score measures a wine’s prestige – as indicated by its visibility in the world’s top restaurants – and popularity – as shown by the number of searches it receives each month on Wine-Searcher. Corton-Charlemagne’s top brand is Bonneau du Martray’s offering (947). This outstanding Brand score is the result of achieving by far the greatest level of restaurant presence of the group – it is visible in nearly twice as many of the world’s top establishments as the next-best of the five (Coche-Dury’s Corton-Charlemagne) – coupled with being comfortably the most popular of the group, receiving 24% more searches each month than the runner-up. No wonder it is one of the group’s three Buzz Brands.

Listed - 5 best Corton-Charlemagne Brands image_30_11_17

In second place is Coche-Dury’s offering with a score of 912 for Brand, in fact its weakest category – perhaps unsurprising given its formidable Economics and Quality scores (985 – the highest of any white Burgundy – and 969 respectively). Its economic might is the result of its extraordinary price (£2,474), which is over 15 times higher than the second-most expensive wine of the group (the Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey (£154).

Almost 50 points further behind is Maison Louis Latour’s Corton Charlemagne (863). Unlike the Coche-Dury, its Brand score is its best facet. This is thanks to very strong performance across both brand criteria – it features in 13% of top restaurants and receives 2,500 searches each month on average.

Trailing over 130 points further behind, Corton-Charlemagne’s next-strongest brands are separated by just six points – Bouchard Père et Fils (732) and Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey (726). Whilst strong, their Brand scores are no match for their excellent quality scores (917 and 950 respectively). In fact, it seems that quality doesn’t play an obvious role in establishing brand strength within Corton-Charlemagne:

Corton-Charlemagne Brand vs Quality image_29_11_17

Whilst Corton-Charlemagnes’s top five Brands display no correlation between quality and brand recognition, as indicated by the flat trendline, quality is much more of a factor for the top brands of another of Burgundy’s most prestigious appellations, Montrachet:

Montrachet Brand vs Quality image_29_11_17

Remember that even if you don’t currently have a Wine Lister subscription you can access all the underlying data behind these five wines as well as those featured in other recent Top 5s, giving you an insight into the wealth of tools at our subscribers’ disposal.

Listed: top 5 sweet Alsace whites by Wine Lister score

As we edge ever closer to Christmas, it feels appropriate to take a look at sweet wines. Here we consider Alsace’s top 5 sweet whites by overall Wine Lister score. Produced in a thin sliver of land in the far East of France, Alsace’s top sweet whites are separated by just nine points (less than one hundredth of Wine Lister’s 1,000-point scale!). The five wines display very similar profiles, all outperforming in the Quality category, achieiving middling Brand scores, and trailing economically.

Four break the 900-point boundary in terms of Quality scores, putting them amongst the very top quality wines on Wine Lister. Hugel et Fils Riesling Vendange Tardive (VT) falls just short with 881 points, still a very strong Quality score (thanks to 17/20 from both Jancis Robinson and Bettane+Desseauve, and 92.5/100 from Vinous). The same producer’s Gewürtzraminer VT scores even higher for quality (910) thanks to a 95/100 from Jeannie Cho Lee:

Hugel Gewurz

Moving categories, scores drop sharply from an average Quality score of 915 to 550 for Brand – still above the average for all wines on Wine Lister:

Hugel Gewurz brand

Economics scores trail even further behind, averaging 338, hindered by low liquidity. For example, Hugel’s Gewürtzraminer VT failed to trade a single bottle at auction over the past four quarters (as measured by Wine Market Journal). The chart below shows Economics score in the context of all the wines on Wine Lister – its is well below the average, with a score below 400 putting in the “weak” score band:

Hugel Gewurz Econ

Other wines making the top five are Zind-Humbrecht Jebsal Pinot Gris VT (675) and Trimbach Gewürztraminer VT, which achieves the best restaurant presence of the group. However, featuring on just 6% of the world’s best restaurant lists, this suggests that Alsace’s sweet whites are not every sommelier’s must-list bracket, even when produced by the region’s most famous producer. Incidentally, Trimbach’s Clos Sainte Hune appears in 34% of wine lists (compared to 69% for Sauternes’ Château d’Yquem).

The last wine making it into this week’s Listed section is Marcel Deiss Altenberg de Bergheim Grand Cru. The only non-single varietal wine of the group, it is a blend of 13 different varietals planted in the same plot, and is by far Bettane+Desseauve’s preferred wine of the group – the French duo award it an average score of 19/20. It is also the most popular wine of the group. However, its modest average search frequency (380 per month on Wine-Searcher) confirms that Alsace’s sweet whites currently fly well under the radar.

So, when you’re stocking up your cellar for Christmas, give Alsace’s sweet whites a go. They might not be the most prestigious, but the quality is there and prices are pleasing.