Alcohol: 13.5%
Grape(s): Chardonnay
Localisation: Meursault, Burgundy, France
Tasting Note: A spicy floral character in 2020; violet, lilac, jasmine, broom but also lemongrass, cumin, juniper berries, green peppercorns, quite spicy aromatic plants, verbena, sage, Vietnamese coriander, bergamot, turmeric; the whole makes a mysterious and bewitching atmosphere, the hallmark of the vintage. Other aromas, such as incense and musk, evoke certain legendary spicy scents from our greatest creators.
On the palate, cream and coulis mingle; there are yellow peaches, passion fruit, blood oranges, mango, pineapple; and Sichuan pepper, curry, saffron, walnut, nutmeg, cumin, Espelette pepper mustard, barley sugar, pralines, a roasted apricot, and much more.
The finish is fabulous and immediately takes hold, takes over, conquers the taster, resistance proving impossible; endless, powerful and racy, a great success. The vinification is simply perfect, and extends, softens, contributes to the further lengthening of the finish.
Notes: The Meursault Premier Cru les Genevrières vineyard that we have cultivated since 1992 is on a sharecropping basis (50% of the crop for the owner, 50% for the tenant).
It covers an area of 0.53 ares and faces east on the Meursault hillside.
It is around 50 years old.
Its vines are 100% Chardonnay.
Annual production: around 3,000 bottles.
The vines are cultivated using non-certified organic methods.
The subsoil consists of limestone gravels on a base of fractured rock plates. Brown soil has filtered down causing silt to settle between the plates. This type of soil provides optimal water storage. The root systems become established in the cracks in the plates.
By ageing with just 20% in new barrels and the rest in barrels that have held one, two or three wines, we preserve the unique character of the terroir.
It has the greatest cellaring potential of all our appellations. It is a powerful wine, elegant, with a very beautiful material.
Food Pairing: The spirit of these Genevrières calls for a Béarnaise rather than a hollandaise sauce to accompany a thick chunk of turbot or a roasted salmon steak; try with girolle mushrooms or even morels with a cut of creamy veal in a few years (with a creamy mustard or curry sauce), followed by a Gorgonzola.
The Domain: Much like humans, vines are living organisms that need to be fed and treated with consideration. Home-produced composts, phytosanitary environmentally-friendly products, plowing, and a carefully preserved biological balance of the soil help us achieve our main cultivation goals. It depends fully on good management and healthy materials to start with. We aim for yields between 45hl to 50hl for the whites and around 35hl for our reds. Pneumatic pressing followed by rigorous must settling constitute the first steps in our winemaking process. Natural yeasts are sufficient for sugars to ferment for a period of three to four months in cool cellars built in solid rock, with constant temperatures of 6°C to 8°C in winter.
The ageing process is carried out in oak barrels on lees over a 12-month period (we use about 20% new oak), followed by fining, an important step in achieving a wine’s elegance, olfactory precision and cellaring potential. It ultimately results from the combination of all our efforts throughout the long 30-month process. All possible care is taken with even the minutest detail, along with the use of high-performance viticultural material: peristaltic pump, pneumatic press, oak barrels between one and five years old, and estate bottling.
