Winemaker Notes
Dry white wine, fairly tight due to limestone terroir, powerful wine, great ripe tension, fresh. White truffle, toasted and grilled - A wine of great finesse, beautiful structure and balance.
Enjoy with white meats and grilled fish when young - Foie gras, capon stuffed with chestnuts and ripened cheeses when mature.
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
Pale lemon and lime. Very intense bouquet while keeping cool. This is the best balanced of the three Meursault 1ers crus, the structure can easily take the sunshine and there is a beautiful backbone. All that this vineyard should be, with superb persistence and all the stones one could want. Drink from 2030-2036.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Vinous
The 2023 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru, which I tasted as part of a masterclass in London with Charles Ballot, has an intense nose with crushed stone alongside hints of white peach and white chocolate. But it is the mineralité that drives this along. The palate is tensile from the start, showcasing razor-sharp tannins and killer mineralité with a very persistent and prolonged finish. Another outstanding Meursault.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Known to offer a magical balance of smoothness and freshness, Meursault's quality is hard to rival. The village lies in the middle of Côte de Beaune, just south of Volnay. Meursault is said to mean “mouse’s jump” because in the past the plots producing Pinot Noir and those producing Chardonnay were no more than a mouse’s jump from one another. Today the village is almost exclusively Chardonnay. A tiny bit of Pinot Noir is produced here with the best coming from Les Santenots on its northern side near Volnay.
While there are no Grands Crus, Meursault’s numerous acclaimed Premiers Crus can compete with any other top-notch white Burgundy. Some to know are Les Perrières, Les Genevrières, Les Charmes, Le Poruzot, Les Bouchères and Les Gouttes d’Or.
Meursault produces outstanding village level wines as well. In general great Premiers Crus and even village level Meursault (Chardonnay) have enticing aromas of lime peel, tropical fruit, crushed rocks, spice and hazelnut. On the palate there is a wonderful balance of brightness and a seductive length with flavors of white peach, pineapple and citrus.