Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2023 Meursault Les Genevrières 1er Cru has a vivacious, minerally bouquet: crushed stone mixed with citrus peel, orange blossom and a very subtle praline note. There is real conviction to these aromatics—they mean business! The palate is tensile from the beginning, with a wonderful line of acidity imparting an electricity that will hopefully be captured in bottle. This is quite a thought-provoking Meursault that will age with style.
Barrel Sample: 95-97 -
Jasper Morris
Now in demi-muid, having spent its first year in barrels. Lemon and lime colour. This is spot on. The wood doesn’t interfere at all with the brilliantly nuanced fresh fruit, floral and herbal notes. Silky and sensual but with pinpoint accuracy. Genevrières perfectly interpreted. Drink from 2030-2037.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
Decanter
Spicy and rich, the 2023 Genevrières from Lafon offers notes of ripe pear and apricot with a floral edge and nuances of clove and anise. The texture has lovely depth and concentration but no heaviness – it seems lighter and fresher than the 2022. Lafon farms a bit more than a half-hectare in Genevrières Dessus in two parcels, one with very old vines and one replanted in the 1990s. The grapes are pressed as whole clusters and fermented with a large proportion of lees in cask (25% new).
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aromas of pear, vine blossom, clear honey and buttered toast introduce the 2023 Meursault 1er Cru Genevrières, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and seamless wine with a fleshy core of pure, vibrant fruit, racy acids and a long, saline finish. This will offer a broad drinking window.
Barrel Sample: 93-95
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.