2016 Meursault Perrieres

Bright medium yellow. Sexy yellow fruits, pineapple and spices on the nose, complicated by hints of butter and vanilla. Then more grapefruity on the palate, offering more mineral tension than the foregoing wines. Still a bit tight and reserved but quite suave from the outset. Opens out nicely on the back end, finishing broad and vibrant, with lovely slowly building length. Jean-Baptiste Bouzereau has told me in the past that the estate's Perrières is typically more harmonious in the early going than its Genevrières but this wine is also a very good example of a balanced, essentially pliant 2016 from vines that avoided the frost.

The 2016 Meursault 1er Cru les Perrieres, not touched by the frost, has a pleasant bouquet with honeysuckle and Mirabelle aromas, if not quite articulating the mineralité, the stoniness that is the leitmotif of a great Les Perrières. The palate is well balanced with a rounded, lightly honeyed entry with hints of toffee apple and spice complementing the citrus fruit. What I would have liked is just more tension and nervosité on the finish. It is a delicious Meursault if not a top-grade Les Perrières, but maybe it will gain more terroir expression with bottle age?

Bright light-medium yellow. Lively perfume of pineapple, lemon zest, anise and crushed stone. Smooth and fine-grained, offering more palate presence in the early going than the Genevrières. Nicely stuffed with peach and citrus fruits, with its pliant texture firmed by lemony cut. With its saline finish, this wine has all the elements to make a lovely classy bottle. Bouzereau told me that his Perrières, unlike some examples from this great premier cru, also shows well early, emphasizing that it's his Genevrières that takes longer to reveal itself.