Domaine Roulot Meursault 2023

Guy Roulot, a legendary producer of some of the finest Meursaults, if not some of the world’s finest white wines, took his family’s small production domaine to stardom. Guy’s marriage to Geneviève Coche and his own hard work added more prime parcels to the family’s holdings, which he vinified and bottled separately – a novelty for a domaine which had been distilling, rather than vinifying, their grapes just a generation before. As a result, Domaine Roulot has become the master of the lieu-dit, not to mention the five premier cru parcels they farm in Meursault and Monthelie. Guy’s sudden death in 1982 left the family in transition, as his son, Jean-Marc was in Paris pursuing a career in acting. A series of three winemakers aided in the changeover until 1989, when Jean-Marc was at last ready to take on the direction of the estate. 

Since then, Jean-Marc’s progress has brought even more notice to a domaine that had already enjoyed a great reputation. The wines of Domaine Roulot are now among the most sought after wines in all of Burgundy.  Jean-Marc has been successful in fine-tuning the domaine’s particular, stand-out style.  While Domaine Roulot had once pioneered the single-vineyard bottlings of Meursault, they were now influencing other domaines to follow suit, thereby raising the stakes in this exalted appellation. What sets the domaine even further apart is Jean-Marc’s commitment to a bright, chiseled, thoroughbred style of Meursault, while many other wines of this village tend towards richness and concentration. Jean-Marc’s wines certainly express a certain depth and sumptuousness thanks to the appellation’s terroir, however his wines also show focus and restraint. Their elegance and amazing precision lend themselves to long aging in the cellars. Jean-Marc loves cooking and believes the strong mineral backbone of his wines and their fresh acidity marry well with food. This is why one is more likely to find their wines in restaurants rather than in wine shops.

Jean-Marc’s believes in making wines that he would like to drink rather than making wines that will appeal to modern palates. The elevage is relatively long of around 18 months, while the wines are being racked into stainless steel tanks after a year. Aging on lees for one year in barrels and six months in vats using only natural yeasts reduces any need of batonnage. Austere and “on the razor's edge” in their youth, the wines take on tremendous scale with age. The result is that the entire range of wines has good line of energy through their core, with silky texture, purity and transparency of its terroir. 

The amount of new oak used ranges from 10 to 30%, depending on the character of the wine and the vintage. Roulot is not a strong advocate of lees stirring, a popular technique in Meursault to gain richness. He tells author Clive Coates, “It does, I admit, create richness, but it also creates heaviness, and one loses purity.” Jean-Marc therefore stirs a maximum of six times, only in years of high acidity and never after the malolactic fermentation.

“A blend of Clos de la Baronne (hailed) Sous La Velle, Crotots and Gruyaches. Pale colour, more reductive than fleshy but with copious fruit beneath. This has an excellent backbone with a fine lime laden streak running through the middle. It will blossom later into more opulence. Drink from 2028-2033.” - 92 Points, Jasper Morris

“Note: 60% of the blend is from Clos de la Baronne with the rest from Les Crotots, Les Gruyaches, Vireuils and Sous la Velle.Much like the Champs Fulliot, this is quite floral in character with its aromas of pear and apple compote and citrus confit. The succulent, round and highly seductive medium weight flavors are not quite as refined but they are more generous and just as persistent on the lingering, balanced and solidly complex finale. This is a fine Meursault villages and worth a look.*Burghound Outstanding!” - 91 Points, Burghound

“Now including the domaine's southernmost holdings in Vireuils (which seems to help temper the softer profile of the Clos de la Baronne, its other main constituent), the 2023 Meursault Village exhibits notes of pear, pear and white flowers, followed by a medium-bodied, satiny and lfkehsy palate that's lively and charming. Over the last twenty years, Jean-Marc Roulot’s chiseled, incisive interpretation of Meursault, pared down to its essentials, has disrupted stereotypes of the appellation, charting a singularly original path. When his father, Guy, passed away in 1982, this historic estate was already well-known: along with René Lafon’s Clos de la Barre, Guy was one of the pioneers of lieu-dit bottlings at the communal level, showcasing the family’s holdings in some of the village’s finest hillside sites. After completing his acting studies at the Paris Conservatoire, in 1989 Jean-Marc himself returned to take the reins, with the confidence and aesthetic vision to chart his own course, flying in the face of the rich, buttery style then in vogue.” - 91 Points, Wine Advocate

Producer: Domaine Roulot

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Varietal: Chardonnay

Appellation: Meursault

Vintage: 2023

Size: 750ml