Pale lemon yellow. The nose starts with a quick blast of citrussy fruit with a deep, tight mineral core. The palate is a little fat and sweet with an aniseed twist. There’s just a hint of oak causing some harshness – but this is young. The length is good with a slightly creamy edge. Not bad at all!
Meursault Charmes
2001 Prieur-Brunet Meursault Charmes
Pale gold colour. The nose is round and a little more exotic than the 2002. The palate shows just a little more balance and texture but without quite the same power and fat of the 2002. I prefer this by a short-nose. There’s that slightly nutty Meursault thing starting to happen vs the more primary fruit of the ’02. Good length. I prefer the texture and balance of this wine, but prefer the fruit of the ’02 – such is life – still a good wine.
1999 Bouchard Père et Fils Meursault Charmes
Golden colour. The nose has faint butterscotch and an aged, nutty, slightly aniseed complexion. With a little swirling more primary citrussy fruit is released. The palate is nicely put together with good acidity and shows a good, dense, mid-palate. The finish has above average length and majors on the hazelnut aspects. I have to say that this is not my favourite profile and whilst the nuttiness is a characteristic of a mature Meursault, this seems a little overdone – especially for a 99 – I suspect this is prematurely aged. Somehow the bottle was still finished with ease…
2002 Prieur-Brunet Meursault Charmes
Very pale colour with an understated nose of faint oak and melony notes. Really good acidity and a little fat too. The fruit is quite high toned and supported by a slightly grainy base of oak that intrudes slightly onto the quite long, aniseed finish. The oak will of course fade to leave a well made and interesting wine, but it’s not so exciting at this tender age.