Tasted in Meursault with Paul Delorme 26 October 2023.
Domaine Roulot
1 Rue Charles Giraud
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 21 21 65
www.domaineroulot.fr
More reports with Domaine Roulot.
Paul on 2023:
“Happy – despite some hail on this side of the village and towards, but not in our Les Charmes“
Paul on 2022:
“All racked 2 months ago – just before the harvest. A hot dry year – fortunately with a lot of rain in June – 130mm – which got us through to the harvest. Unlike today we haven’t had much October rain in the previous two years. It helped us a lot in the limestone terroirs – it was still hard in the more clay soils though. Harvesting 25-05 September – but the aligoté finishing on the 11th…”
The team here are using jars of different materials plus some wine globes too for elevage – it’s all for testing at this stage – some without sulfur but, for now, they’ve not found something that really excites them…
The wines…
Beautiful wines – even some great wines – though perhaps it’s their position in elevage – they didn’t shine as consistently brightly as the wines of 2021 – but luck try to find any of those as their volume is ridiculously low.
Still staying with natural cork for the bottlings – mainly Trescasses NdTec but with a strong control of density too. Changed to DIAM for the halves in 2015 due to variability but found the wines tightened too much – so now using (three years) a glass seal with a silicone ring – the same as for their distilled products – and they are cheaper than NdTec too!
2022 Monthelie
2 plots blended Les Gamay & Les Juères – barrel-aged with hardly any new oak – a small cuvée of 5-6 barrels bottling in the next 2-3 weeks
Silky, direct but shy nose – a fine purity of darker fruit. Open, fluid, only the smallest suggestion of tannin framing the flavours – no grain. Fine and juicy finishing.
2022 Auxey-Duresses 1er Les Grand Champs
Some wc used here – the previous completely destemmed.
A more open, more perfumed width of aroma – this is lovely. Slightly more structural, juicy red wine – I really like the shape and clarity of this wine. There’s extra depth in this finishing flavour too with a faint last note that recalls orange flesh… I find this a beauty!
Les Whites:
Bottling between February and April – based on a blind tastings that they will make in a couple of weeks. Actually, based on tastings they bottled the 21s much later – around June. But it only took a three days instead of 3 weeks due to the low volumes…
2022 Bourgogne Blanc
All in the commune of Meursault – 2 plots – but 5 hectares worth, some (normally!) sold in bulk but 20k bottles are produced in a normal vintage – 30% of the domaine’s production so their most important cuvée by volume.
Large scale aromas with plenty of ripeness to this citrus fruit. Broad, silky modestly structural wit some small accents of chalky texture. Ripe fruit with a hint of reduction today in this nicely saline finish.
2022 Meursault
Mostly from Clos de la Baronne but also Crotots and a little Gruyaches plus, in recent vintages, from Sous la Velle
More energy visible here – much more classy today too. Easy over the plate – almost a little soft but this texture is fine and wide slowly – and quite minerally – opening over the palate. Again plenty of finishing salinity and even a hint of spice.
2022 Meursault Les Vireuils
Planted by Jean-Marc’s father in 1968 – so the oldest vines of this trio of ‘named’ villages. At the top of the hill on the Auxey-Duresses side with a NE exposure – so a little on the colder side. Not much topsoil – 30-40cm only.
A faint mineral extra here – we also have aromatic energy. The flavour with an attractively small suggestion of reduction. Transparent – beautiful – quite ethereal shape and personality over the palate. Small waves of finishing flavour. That’s a beauty!
2022 Meursault Meix Chavaux
Bottom of the hill this time with almost 1 metre of soil.
A silky nose, still mineral but with more floral complexity – very nicely perfumed! Hmm – more perfumed in the mouth too, slightly more generous – with a larger finish vs the more direct but more powerful Vireuils.
2022 Meursault Luchets
In the middle of the hill and almost between the previous two.
Also a floral nose with a hint more of ginger spice. Beautiful shape and very silky too. A broad, almost panoramic finish that holds very well – this is a real beauty.
“Tillets – there is none, it was pulled out after 2015 harvest but is now replanted.”
2022 Meursault Narvaux
High but a warm place due to east exposure.
Airy, fine, with a little mineral depth too – still a little shy but very inviting. Fuller but so mouth-watering – but not a juicy aggressively energetic wine, rather one that’s faintly spiced with chalky tannin in this finish. Another wonderfully ethereal experience.
It was Jean-Marc’s father who wrote ‘A Mon Plaisir…’ More east-facing with the same altitude as the Luchets
Also a small nose but with a super precision of acacia blossom. Ethereal is really the word for these villages but with simply brilliant purty and clarity of flavour – almost chiselled. Fine chalky texture frames the last flavours. Bravo!
2022 Meursault 1er Porusot
There is a higher and lower section but the higher was replanted, so for a few vintages the grapes came only from the dessous section.
A broader, more forward width of aroma – very fine! Yes we have the same fluid clarity but with more intensity and clearly wonderfully silky texture. Opening beautifully over the palate – that’s a great finish.
2022 Meursault 1er Charmes
Width again – fine fruit as much pear as citrus, with a little cushion to these aromas. Hmm, a hint more power and intensity here – very complex with lovely energy. A different style to the previous wines. Chewy, structural in the finish – a wine that impresses but the first I would be keeping 3-4 years in the cellar.
2022 Meursault 1er Clos de Bouchères
This 1.3-hectare clos is a monopole of the domaine – central in Bouchères – 2011 was the first vintage, before that they had ‘simply’ Bouchères. Today, one-third of the vines are 25-30-years-old, the rest are over 45. The first vineyard to be harvested yet always with the highest degrees – 13.5° in 2022.
This is beautifully floral perfumed. I like the shape and presence of this wine – it’s slightly soft but with delicious, slightly generous flavour. The finish is broad and very expressive, wth the accent of Meursault spice.
2022 Meursault 1er Perrières
Have kept this cuvée back since the 2018 vintage and they are not yet ready to release any of those vintages yet. ‘It’s a tough decision!’
A slightly heavier floral note, riper almost lime citrus fruit too. Larger scale and very mouth-watering – a wine with a very different shape/profile – this is still such an impressive thing
For the road:
To compare, some 2021s, only bottled in July:
Broad, more texture and even a little development. Gorgeous over the palate – seamless, silky, broad. Slowly growing intensity. Great!
More vertical and floral aromas. Mouth-watering – clarity and precision like the 22 but with more obvious intensity today. Another Bravo wine.
2021 Meursault 1er Porusots
Extra floral energy and certainly width. Lots of scale, energy, minerality – this is very lovely – less obvious clarity today vs the previous two but with a delicious weight and intensity.
Another level of floral perfume that’s just soooo good! This has the cut and architecture – the chiselled shape that I didn’t see in the 22 today. I simply love this fluidity of flavour too – lapping over the palate. A real burst of finishing flavour. I find this a great!wine.