2013 Meursault Les Perrieres

Pale, bright straw-yellow. Grapefruit, wet stone and a metallic note on the nose. Good concentration to the pineapple and ripe grapefruit flavors, with firm acidity nicely leavening a slight impression of sweetness. Finishes dry and persistent, with good crunchy minerality.

The 2013 Meursault 1er Cru les Perrières, which sees 10% new oak and will stay in tanks until February/March, has a modest nose, just a little smudged at first, but it opens up with beeswax and jasmine scents, if less minerality than I was expecting. The palate is well balanced, quite powerful and rich with good depth in the mouth, but I am missing that sense of tension and certainly the minerality on the finish. It is a “pleasant” almost "benign" Perrières, but it just does not possess that essence of the vineyard and at least at this early juncture, is surpassed by de Montille’s other white ‘13s.

(this wine was previously part of Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet, but as Etienne de Montille owns and farms this vineyard he decided to bring it under the Domaine de Montille label, so that he would have one Meursault premier cru under each label): Full yellow-straw. Ripe aromas of pineapple, wet stone and smoke. On the palate, bright stony acidity cuts through the ripe pineapple flavor, with the echoing finish showing a strong saline character and a note of dusty stone. Excellent potential here.