New Brooms in Meursault
The 2007s show well in Meursault. The harvest is invariably less extensive here than it is in Puligny and Chassagne – more a question of the vigour of the soil than the diligence of the local growers – but nevertheless it is arguable that this is the best commune for white wines in this vintage. So, is Meursault easy to buy? With getting on for 100 domaines which today bottle the majority of their crop one should think the answer is yes. It is certainly getting easier. Today there are an increasing number of first class estates. The consumer can now look further than Coche-Dury, Lafon and Roulot for real satisfaction.
I have recently been visting – or, more accuratly, re-visiting – several Meursault properties where there has been a change of generation, and with it, a step up in quality, since I started doing the research for my Wines of Burgundy some five years ago.
The first is the Domaine Ballot-Minot. Philippe Ballot's wines here have always been good, though in my view they lacked a little intensity. Now they are better. Philippe's son Charles, today 29, has been in charge since 2001, since when changes for the better have occured both in the cellar and in the vineyard. Now there is the lutte raisonné, no more herbicides, and more attention to the vines so as to be able to reduce treatments. In the winery the wines are racked without oxygenating, for Charles retains the maximum of CO2; and the bottling now takes place after 18 months. 'Let the wine evolve in its own good time,' says Charles. This is the way to produce Meursaults of depth.
Only a few hundred metres away lies the headquarters of the Domaine Boisson-Vadot. Bernard Boisson, short and tubby, bearded and balding, jolly and welcoming, and by no means old, say 55 or so, always produced attractive if somewaht ephemeral wines, like so many of his neighbours. There used to be a Puligny-Montrachet, les Folatières, to accompany the range of Meursaults, but the proprietor was such an awkward cuss that when the lease came up for renewal Bernard politely delined. Bernard's son Pierre, 27, has worked alongside his father since 2004, and some of the produce now sells under his own label, for instance several Auxeys which Pierre has acquired on his own account. Once again there had been a tightening up of procedures, and a move to bottling afyer 18 months rather than after 12 – here even for the Aligoté.
Vincent Bitouzet-Prieur has two cellars: one in Volnay, for the red wines, the other in Meursault, opposite Lafon, for the whites. I marked his 2002 Perrières very highly. Vincent's son, Francois, 25, claims no responsability for this, as he was still at school, but he is now part of the team, being more implicated in the white wine production than the red. He's very committed, he told me, to getting the oak element exactly correct. Each cuvée has to be treated differently. Here again, bottling of the whites is now taking place after 18 months or so rather than 12. I found the 2007s, in both colours, delicious.
Vincent Boyer, 30, has been in charge at the Domaine Boyer-Martenot since 2003, His major adjustmenrs so far, he says, has been in the vineyards: no more herbicides, ditto anti-rot treatments, and in general as little intervention as possible. In the cellar, his approach is also more relaxed: more use of gravity, no more pumping, racking without aeration, and a little bit more new oak. Next year he will begin experimenting with bottling after 18 rather than 12 months. This is an estate which can offer all the three top premiers crus – Charmes, Genevrières and Perrières - as well as Puligny-Montrachet, Les Caillerets. It has for many years produced good wine. Today quality is yet better.
Vincent Labille (32) has been in charge at the Domaine Latour-Labille since 1998, and moved his bottling from 12 months to 18 from the 2004 vintage. He offers Charmes, Porozots, Goutte D'Or and Perrières, inter alia, and his wines are terroir expressive and very stylish;
It would be premature to describe either Patrick Javillier or Pierre Morey as retired: the latter has only just reached 60 and the former has not yet attained this plateau. But in both cases daughters are beginning to take at least an equal part in things. Chez Javillier, Marion, in her 20s, has taken on sole responsibility for the red wines, hitherto very much in second position of importance to the whites, from 2008. There is much which can be improved here and I am told the vinification has already been nuanced to obtain wines with a bit more depth and substance. I look forward to sampling these 2008s in a year's time.
Anne Morey, who is 32, has been responsible for the family reds for some time, and is getting increasingly involved in the production of the whites. Here we have both family wines and those sold under the merchant label of Morey Blanc. The 2007s are fine.
Jean-Baptiste Bouzereau, 37, took over at the Domaine Michel Bouzereau in 1999, so he's not exactly a new kid on the block. But I liked his 2007s very much, so I can't resist including him in this review. Again, since 2002, the elevage is longer. Treatments in the vineyard are more natural, and quality today is high class. A new cuverie and cellar are planned for 2009.
Another, about whom I have heard good reports, is Arnaud Tessier, the late 20 something son of the late Michel. Sadly, having been asked to comment as a guest expert on a parcel of late 1990 wine over which there was a dispute between the Tessiers and their exporters, I am not allowed to visit here. But I welcome news from those who are allowed to go and taste.