Terroir-istes International - France, Burgundy, Meursault

A focus on Meursault. Some intro notes: While Meursault lacks any Grand Cru vineyards, its Premier Cru sites can produce their equal in quality. The tasting will explore both village-level and Premier Cru examples from various producers. Top 1er Cru sites include:
- Les Perrières: Often considered the finest Premier Cru in Meursault, producing wines of great finesse and minerality.
- Les Genevrières: Known for wines with excellent balance and a subtle, spicy character.
- Les Charmes: Typically produces rich, round wines with a generous fruit profile.
- Les Poruzots: Offers wines with good structure and a pronounced mineral character.
- Les Bouchères: Known for elegant, well-balanced wines with good aging potential.
We shall also taste wines from specific lieux-dits (named plots) such as Les Chevaliers, which, while not classified as Premier Cru, can produce excellent wines.
One producer, Henri Germain, is known for wines that require 5-10 years of maturation to reach their full potential. Germain's winemaking style involves slow alcoholic and malolactic fermentations, followed by extended ageing of two winters in barrels on lees. This approach results in wines with depth, concentration, and structure. In recent years, their style has become less austere and reductive.
The chalky slopes of Meursault, particularly in areas like Les Chevaliers, contribute to the wines' distinctive mineral quality and structure.

• 2016 Henri Germain et Fils Meursault Les Chevalières 92 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

  (Tasted Blind): Light yellow. Intense nose with mineral, quarry dust, crushed stones abd sea shells almost briny. An upright, poised, focussed wine that is all about mineral, shattered stones, and rock scree with a strident acidity threading through. Gentle peach and nectarine with a touch of flesh balance this austere wine, although some felt it lacked much fruit density and the acid is too much. A long, persistent finish, this is a wine fortitude, concentration and precision carried off well. Very much my thing!
  2016 - warm winter, damp summer.

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• 2015 Henri Germain et Fils Meursault Flawed

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault

  (Tasted Blind): Mid yellow with browning elements. The nose shows oxidation with caramel elements, soft chalk and toffee notes. On the palate, the development detracts despite the presence of a little peach flesh and oatmeal. With strident acidity, the wine has a sour apple hot toffee quality with a lick of vanilla. Has developed too quickly with the likely issue premox.
  (flawed from oxidation)

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• 2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  (Tasted Blind): Pale yellow in colour, the aromas display stone dust, tidal pool and mineral lift with elements of struck match, ripe peach underneath and hazelnut.
  The palate has a fabulous fresh lime intensity that sings along with vibrant saline-edged acidity and a lemon skin texture. Herbs, salted lemons, minerals and flint create a delineated dynamic wine that is clear-cut like an alpine glacier and with fruit density. Excellent concentration and length this is showing superbly!
  Spent 18 months in barrel.

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• 2010 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 95 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  (Tasted Blind): Mid-yellow. Initial notes of rubber wheel and cordite slowly morph to crayon, green apple and pressed yellow flowers. Intense.
  Initially closed, the palate slowly unfurls with flavours of yellow peach, mineral, Bircher muesli, salted lemons, lime peel, and some blood grapefruit. The wine features a strident and purposeful saline edge of acidity, filling every crevice. It has excellent acid structure and depth with a typical breadth of Meursault. Another outstanding example!

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• 2010 Domaine François Mikulski Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 86 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  (Tasted Blind): Mid-yellow. Riper fruit aromas with brandy snap, peach, nectarine, and a hint of tropical fruits slowly edged by a mineral note. The nose is more open-knit and embracing.
  It has a much more open-knit style with a fatter, less delineated mid-palate filled with peach flesh, apple puree, lemon juice and spicy oak.
  Broader style, more Meursault, with the quality and power of Côte d'Or, pear skin texture and a sour-edged acidity. It's not quite my thing with a ginger, brandy snap element that detracted slightly, shortening the finish.

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• 2010 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 96 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  (Tasted Blind): Pale yellow. Slightly reductive with touches of rubber, it slowly yields to dried thyme, tidal pool and seaweed. This is an intense, raked back and upright palate with flavours of rock scree, limey/lemon edges, soft nectarine, sea kelp, white peach, jasmine flowers, and Lucerne balanced by a bright, vibrant acidity. There is breadth and depth here and a purposeful edge that gives a fabulous line that lifts and flows. Complex with a persistent finish this is a very classy wine with layers of flavours swirling around. Cracking!

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• 2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières 94 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  (Tasted Blind): (Tasted Blind): Mid-yellow. Gorgeously fragrant nose with stone fruits, nougat, almond pastry, dried yellow flowers, orange peel, green melon, flint, and a saline-based sparkling water quality—lots to explore!
  Intense and focused on the entry, the wine is well-proportioned with a core of intriguing fruit balanced by a persistent acidity that keeps the wine fresh and flowing and gives it edges. A lovely creamy texture underneath this is layered with salted lemon and lime, tarragon leaves, orange peel, nougat, vanilla pod and gingerbread, this has a juiciness in tandem with its linear direction and long farewell.
  In the glass, it continues to open with toasted almond and light honey pastry notes that segue into peach, ginger spice, and baklava and closes salty-edged fruit. It's hard to pin down but complex!

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• 2002 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières 93 Points

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault 1er Cru

  (Tasted Blind): Mid-yellow. Shows some tertairy evolution with wisps of smoke but this is mixed with fresher notes of stone fruits, jasmine, wild flowers and minerals.
  The entry is fresh, with a firm mineral acidity, pear skin texture, lovely breadth, and flavours of nougat, white peach, pastry, and a hint of almond.
  It is an intense wine with good concentration, a coolness that laps the palate and is wonderfully knit as it leaves a long farewell. Classy wine.

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