Appellation: Meursault
Grape: 100% Chardonnay Age of the vines: 30 to so years
Serving Temperature: between 9° to 12 °
Shel life of wine: 2 to 5 years Vmification:
Aged in 100% oak barrels for 12 months, 35% of which are new. The grape juice is placed in barrels for alcoholic and malolactic fermentation, using indigenous yeasts and bacteria. The wine is then matured on its lees until the next harvest. After racking, the barrels are assembled and left in vats for a few months before bottling.
Tasting notes: This Meursault is greeny-gold in colour, leaning towards bronze as it ages. Limpid and brilliant, it sometimes exhibits silvery highlights. Its bouquet has strong aromas of ripe grapes. The young wine is redolent of toasted almonds in a floral (mayflower, elder, bracken, lime, verbena) and mineral (flint) setting. Butter, honey, and citrus fruits are also present. On the palate it is rich and fat with a cheerful and appealing taste of hazelnut. Unctuousness and freshness are in silky balance. Long and structured, it needs time to mature - this is a great white wine for laying down. Food paring: It's aromatic power and exceptional balance between fat and acidity make it an aristocrat among burgundies. Unsurprisingly, it has a natural affinity with noble and fine-textured fish or meat, which it can match without overpowering. It performs a similar feat with joints of veal or poultry in white sauce, which are rendered sublime by the wine's unctuous texture and long, distinguished acidity. Still better are grilled lobster, crawfish, or king prawns in sauce - dishes whose aromatic intensity and crisp texture match the lively and supple balance of the wine. Even blue cheeses and foie gras take to it immediately.
Location: The hard Comblanchian limestone which disappears deep underground around Nuits-Saint-Georges reappears here where, as one moves southward, red wines give way to whites. Nowhere in the Cote de Beaune does the Chardonnay grape do better than it does here. Along the village streets are a succession of little houses belonging to the vineyard workers, mixed with more imposing dwellings. The stone-work on the 53 metre-high church tower looks like it could be the work of fairies. The excellent soils were planted with vines by the monks of Citeaux as early as 1098. A small amount of red wine is produced here, though white definitely dominates. Meursault's appellation of origin status dates from 1937.
Soils:
The best soils are found at heights of 260 metres with exposures along an arc between East and South. They consist of Jurassic marls and marly limestones. There are some patches of magnesian limestone. The ancient callovien limestone and argovien marls shave the crus.