2012 Pommard Clos Blanc 1er Cru

Taken from barrel, the misleadingly entitled 2012 Pommard 1er Cru Clos Blanc, which had just finished its malo-lactic, has crisp blackberry and palpable stony notes that lend it great vigor and tension. While my sample still had a little gas in the glass, the palate seems well-balanced, masculine with firm, quite chalky tannins and a strict linear finish that is the polar opposite of your more sensual Volnays. My one concern is that it feels just a little “clipped” and it needs to develop just a touch more consistency. Domaine Albert Grivault looks over the central square, the heart of the village of Meursault, though the signage is discrete, unlike others. Upon ringing the bell, I am greeted by Michel Bardet, the grandson of Albert Grivault, who many years ago established a distillery in Beziers and with the profits acquired a few vines including one-hectare Clos des Perrieres, located in the heart of the climat at the tender age of just 23 in the year of 1879, just after phylloxera had bedeviled the vineyards. Apart from his business acumen, Albert was also a renowned taster with one of the sharpest palates in the area. Michel himself escorted me through his maison and out the back to his small winery. He is immediately a passionate and refreshingly garrulous gentleman (the good winemakers of Burgundy can be a taciturn bunch when they want to be.) We paused to survey the clos behind the house, one source for his village cru (see accompanying photograph.) Stretch your neck far enough and stand on tiptoe, you can almost see Clos des Perrieres itself, his crown jewel since the family’s plot of Clos de Vougeot was sold off in the 1930s. This is a small, simple domaine devoid of trickery, the wines undergoing modest batonnage and judicious new oak, up to a modest 25%. Like Vincent Boyer, he had already bottled his 2012s when I visited in mid-October, ergo the scores are not in parenthesis. Importer: several importers including Atherton Wine Imports, Atherton, CA; tel. (650) 328-6639 and Domaine Direct in the UK.