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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
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 Côte 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 Cîteaux 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.
The best soils are found at heights of 260-270 metres with exposures along an arc between east and south. They consist of Jurassic marls and marlylimestones. There are some patches of magnesian limestone. The ancient callovien limestone and argovien marls shave the crus.
There are observable but minor differences between the wines of the different " Climats " (named plots). In most cases, Meursault is greeny-gold in colour or canary yellow, 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 and hazelnuts 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.
Its 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 goose liver take to it immediately.
Serving temperature : 12 to 14 °C.
Vuosikerta 1997
1997 VINTAGE in Burgundy
The exciting Burgundy vintage in 1997 is regarded as having produced some of the most charming wines in living memory. The whites are notable for their richness and balance. Full, elegant and well bred, they are for great short to medium term drinking pleasure. The reds have fine intense colour, with well-ripened berry fruits on the nose, and smooth, fleshy flavours in the mouth. They are already very agreeable to drink and, their personality will develop further as they age
At the beginning of the viticultural year the weather was fair, very bright and dry. Bud burst for the Chardonnay took place on the first April and for the Pinot Noir the 10th April. Following this, we had an unbroken stretch of fine weather until flowering, as a result we were twelve days in advance compared to the average year.
The period between the 15th June and the 10th July was not good, cloudy, cold and wet until the 7th July and then stormy between the 7th and the 20th July.
The beginning of veraison (when the grapes begin to change colour) occurred on the 4th August and was completed on the 20th, 4-5 days in advance. There then followed a long, unusual period of dry weather. By the 27th August, we had had only 50% of the usual rainfall, the heat was intense throughout a thirty day period. Despite this there was no sign that the sustained period of hot, dry weather had any adverse effect on the vine and its fruit.
The harvest was particularly rapid, taking less than 10 days and was not once interrupted by rain. The weather conditions during the harvest were exceptionally good, it was hot, sunny and dry. As a result we were very pleased with the ripeness of the fruit in both the Reds and the Whites. In addition, the fruit harvested was very healthy with virtually no trace of rot in the Pinot Noir. The other interesting effect of these weather conditions was that the sun and wind concentrated the grape juice without reducing the acidity. We harvested the top Cru red wines at between 12.5° and 13°. In general, we had a medium sized crop for the red wines which are of a very high quality which will create some tension at the grower level, considering the international demand.
As for the whites, to begin with they were slow to ripen, but again we benefited from the good weather conditions during the harvest period, picking the top white Crus at between 13° and 13.5° and in terms of quantity it was a good crop. We are pleased with the quality too, which we believe will be very good, with less acidity than the '95's and '96's, they will be powerful and pleasant.