Meursault

It’s time to rewrite the book on Meursault. All the old books hold the same line: Meursault is the roundest and richest of the three great villages for white Burgundy, with flavors of rich butter and toasted hazelnuts. These simply do not apply today as they once did. The premature oxidation scandal of the 1990s and 2000s basically ended the practice of the long aging of white Burgundy, as trust has not returned that these expensive wines will not turn brown in the bottle while sitting in the cellar. At the same time, wine tastes have evolved in the last twenty years, favoring cut and precision over luxuriance and flesh. Responding to both changing tastes and a preference for earlier drinking, producers have adopted the more fashionable, racy, leaner approach we see in many regions. Buttery, nutty Meursault is now a relic. The new style is stony and lemony, fresh and bright. Meursault’s terroir is much more oriented toward the current style than most would have suspected.

This all seems strikingly clear when spending an afternoon with Jean-Marc Roulot, the leading light of the new Meursault. First we drive out into the extended flats east of the village to see the vineyards of his excellent Bourgogne Blanc. It’s his most humble wine, but that doesn’t mean it lacks attention. “Im very motivated with Bougogne Blanc,” he says. “It’s nice to have the high wines, but I love to produce a good bottle at a lower price.” He notes that is farming practice and cost for Bourgogne Blanc are the same as for Meursault Perrières, which fetches ten times the price (if you can find them, the BB sells for around $80 and the Perrières anywhere from $500 to $1,000).

Next, we drive high up into Meursault’s lofty hillside vineyards, one of the village’s great strengths. Though only village rated, in the new Meursault paradigm of leaner, racier wines, many produce at near Premier Cru, a notion strengthened by the fact that so many are now familiar names to wine lovers: Rougeots, Tessons, Narvaux, Luchets, Chevalières, Tillets, and Grands Charrons. At their high altitudes, in warmer years, these vineyards excel. The soils are thin and more complex than what gets reported, says Jean-Marc. “In 260 feet, the soil changes from white to yellow to dark and red. We are still learning about it every year.” The grapes are all harvested and vinified together, so the nuances of these soil differences are hard to quantify. But Roulot, like most great vintners, strives for precision and wants to know every detail of his vineyard.

And then, finally, to the great vineyards in the middle of the slope: Perrières, Charmes, Genevirières, each with its own personality: Perrières - the eternal Grand Cru in waiting, with its epic fusion of body and minerality, frame and physique; Charmes - full-bodied and physical, but deep and engaging; and Genevrières - crystalline in structure, at once gossamer and formidable

tasting notes

As we note above, the style in Meursault has changed in recent years, from a rich, round, and buttery emphasis to something more lean and cut. However, the richness that allowed Meursault to achieve those sizable wines can still be coaxed from the soil. The best of today’s Meursault wines evince this depth and unctuousness, but still manage to find precision and tautness in the structure. It’s a beautiful thing, well demonstrated in the current wines of Comtes Lafon, Roulot, and Ente.

top producers

DOMAINE GUY ROULOT

A working actor and writer, Jean-Marc Roulot has talents and interests beyond Meursault. Perhaps those inspirations help him improve the wine, though his commitment to his vineyards and cellar is never in question. His wines are Meursault’s most poetic and human. There’s a pureness and limpidity that gives them elemental status. All are excellent, but Roulot’s is the quintessentially great Bourgogne Blanc, and his collection of lieux dits are unmatched: Tessons (Clos de Mon Plaisir), Tillets, Meix Chavaux, Vireuils, and Luchets

DOMAINE DES COMTE LAFON

Dominique Lafon is a true legend in his own time, producing some of the greatest Meursault. He’s also a vision of the new Meursault, as his leap to the new, racy, acid-driven style has been one of the prime indicators of the village’s general shift. Lafon makes a number of Côte de Beaune wines (including a lot of Volnay), but his Meursault offerings are storied, particularly Clos de la Barre, Charmes, Genevrières, and Perrières.

domaine coche-dury

Does the rarefied, insular house of Coche still deserve its cult status? It does on the basis that only a tiny club of very wealthy people get to taste it. The wines are still very, very good. But the flash of sulfury matchstick that used to captivate some of us is more rare than it used to be. Still, in their fusion of power, minerality, and streamlined grace, the wines are some of the most defining of Meursault: Chevalières, Rougeots, Caillerets, and Perrières.

detailed map