Winemaker Notes
The 2020 Meursault Goutte d'Or Premier Cru presents a shiny pale yellow color. Its nose is characterized by hints vanilla, toasted bread and honey. The mouthfeel is ample, generous and fresh. It offers oaky notes and stone fruit aromas. The finale is characterized by its tension.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A very generous and mouth-filling wine with super-ripe mirabelle, the fine tannins and delicate minerality beautifully interwoven into that. Great concentration and not a jot too rich. Very long and graceful finish with a lot of complexity.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Meursault 1er Cru Goutte d'Or exhibits aromas of pear, toasted nuts, beeswax and apple blossom, followed by a medium to full-bodied, ample and enveloping palate with a satiny attack, lively acids and spice-inflected finish. It's one of the highlights of the range this year.
-
Wine Spectator
Though well-structured, this white is also elegant, featuring lemon cake, apple, vanilla and clove flavors. Builds to a long, citrus peel-infused aftertaste. Best from 2024 through 2030.
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.