Tasted in Meursault with Jean-Marc Roulot, 01 October, 2018.
Domaine Roulot
1 Rue Charles Giraud
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 21 21 65
www.domaineroulot.fr
Jean-Marc on 2018:
“2018 was really top! Particularly the fact that we have two vintages in a row with both quality and quantity – we can now breathe. 2017 is the most classic, and we certainly didn’t anticipate the volume that would come in 2018 – nature was generous – for 25 years I haven’t seen a similar combination of quality and quantity, and the acidity is really quite good. We could make 60 hl/ha and in this vintage we did! Just compare that to 15 hl/ha in 2016! The harvest took us 13 days, a longer harvest, but I was expecting 30 pickers and had only 25 to start. I don’t regret the start date of 24 August.“
Jean-Marc on 2017:
“There’s a lot of talk about large volumes in 2017 but it wasn’t like 2011 in quantity – and there was a hit of mildew to contend with. The frost really only compromised the aligoté and bourgogne. We’re very happy with what we have. The juice pressing seemed okay, no lack there. The 2017s are more mouth-watering than was the case for 2016 – that was the worst vintage, frost then hail, twice the work for almost nothing.”
The wines…
I asked Jean-Marc if he was thinking about using DIAM – “That’s the big question” he says. “All half bottles in DIAM for now. I have great corks from Sardinia, but still…”
Tasting the 2017 wines of this domaine was super-revealing; there is a fresh mineral line here that is quite unlike virtually every other domaine in this vintage – the intensity is literally painful. I even ask myself if the line and fresh mineral style are almost too much. In the end, regular customers of these wines will be very satisfied with their purchases – there is no doubt of their greatness – in their own style – which I sometimes thought a little masochistic in 2017 – but that’s today, and you won’t get the chance to drink these for almost another year – maybe they will have eased a little by then…
All the following wines were racked before the 2018 harvest and they will stay another 5-6 months in tank:
2017 Bourgogne Blanc
From about 4.5 hectares of vines, mainly behind the domaine but a hectare in the Puligny area too – all-told about 13 parcels.
The real agrume of Roulot is visible here. Volume, transparency, depth of agrume flavour, almost steely, great! So long…
2017 Auxey-Duresses
Hautes, two parcels, accounts for 80% of this cuvee
Also a yellow fruit with lots of agrume. More depth, plenty of intensity, depth of flavour, lingering beautifully on the palate. Excellent…
10 barrels in 2016, 37 in 2017. 70% comes from Clos de la Barron, a little Sous la Velle included this year for the first time.
A lighter agrume, sizzling, faintly ginger-spiced – a great invitation from this nose. Wide, lucid, mobile, faintly saline and mineral. Such a great wine!
2017 Meursault Vireuls
Planted by Jean-Marc’s father in 1968. ‘The grapes were beautiful this year.’
A wide, texturally smoother, nose. Beautiful texture. A long line, beautiful. Almost silex fumé impression in the finish…
2017 Meursault Luchets
Steely, warmer but beautifully agrumed. Open, saline and melting, mineral wine but absolutely delicious – finishing with the pure mineral style, and for some time!
2017 Meursault Meix Chaveaux
Rounder, sweeter, a richer nose, more subtly agrume. Round, vibrant, richer but the vibrance perfectly balances. I love the Luchets but I see more presence and weight here.
“Tillets – there is none, it was pulled out after 2015 harvest and we will replant in the springtime. Typical – we would surely have got a good harvest from those old vines this year!”
Jean-Marc explains “I find the classification severe in Meursault, the differences between the levels are clear and well-defined though. There is logic. Though Tessons should be a 1er!” 😉
Mineral, agrume but more floral too. A faint gas here, but melting, mouth-watering, super balance and density – lip-smacking flavour. Not a hard edge in site. Vibrates in the finish, almost a little dry extract in the finish. Bravo.
2017 Meursault 1er Porusot
There was a higher and lower section but the higher is being replanted, so this from dessous. First harvest from the new vines will be in 2020.
A little sweetness and a clarity of fine and ripe fruit here – the first. A hint of gas again. Beautiful fruit, fine volume/scale in the mouth. Vibrates in the mid and finish again – definitely the style in this vintage – classic for the domaine too.
‘Charmes is earth, Genevrières is the air, Perrières is the fire,’ suggests Jean-Marc.
A wider nose, less overt fruit, but with an inviting cushioning. Hmm, this is my favourite so far – volume, just a hint of richness to the texture, but freshly mineral and with just the right combination of cushioning and exciting, incisive, flavour. Great.
2017 Meursault 1er Clos de Bouchères
This 1.3 hectare clos is a monopole of the domaine – 2011 was the first vintage. One-third of the vines are 25-30 years-old, the rest are over 45.
Hmm, this is a fresh and aromatic nose that reminds me of Genevrières. Hmm, depth of flavour, melting, sucrosity, precision, fresh finishing. Quite a different wine – two animals in one glass.
Vines from the 1950s.
A little more agrume aroma here. Ouch! A little more of everything in the mouth; energy, minerality but flavourful too. This is as great a wine as I’ve ever tasted here – simply great.
And a trio of 2016s to finish:
2016 Meursault Luchets
Richer, a more developed, waxy nose. Super in the mouth, rich but the structure cuts beautifully through the flavour, but the agrume finish is fully in place.
2016 Meursault Tessons, Clos de Mon Plaisir
Nice, a little saline touch to the aroma. Hmm… Vibrant, mineral, intense, concentrated. Less precise, but more powerful than the 17s
The only vines of the domaine not touched by frost in 2016
Hmm, almost a little contemplative. Round but mobile, fresh, a little saline, rippling with muscled flavour. Ooh this is so good! Such length. This is a great wine.
There is one response to “Roulot – 2017”
Bill, apparently there are 2 different bourgogne blancs in 2017. which did you review and are the labels different?
The wine was presented only as ‘Bourgogne’ and pre-bottling too – so sorry I don’t know. I will ask the domaine though.