2009 Meursault Boucheres

The 2009 Meursault Boucheres emerges from the glass with lime, bright citrus, white flowers and crushed rocks. It shows gorgeous inner tension, expressive perfume and a long, impeccable silky finish. Bright floral notes add lift on the finish. This could probably use another few years in bottle. This is a very steep slope that passes very quickly from being ripe to over-ripe, so the harvest date is critical. Anticipated maturity: 2014+. Jean-Marc Roulot is one of the most thoughtful, introspective growers in Burgundy, so it is hardly a surprise his 2009s are so sublime. The domaine has grown to 15 hectares as of the 2011 harvest. Roulot was among a group of investors including Dominique Lafon who purchased Domaine Rene Manuel from Laboure-Roi. Readers can look forward to two new wines from Roulot a Meursault Clos de la Baronne, Meursault Clos de Bouchere, plus a little more production of the Poruzots. Roulot was among the first to harvest, and started picking on September 1st. Accodring to Roulot, the optimal window for picking has become much narrower with today’s increasingly warmer growing seasons. Roulot told me he prefers 2009 to 2008 as the fruit was healthier, with no botrytis or other issues, which resulted in wines of greater focus. The 2009s spent 12 months in oak followed by 6 months in steel with very light and infrequent batonnage. The Bourgogne saw less than 10% new barrels, while the village wines saw 15-18% new barrels and the premier crus 25-30% new barrels. Unfortunately I was not able to taste the 2010s as they were in full malolactic fermentation. A Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300 and imported by: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524

(this very early-ripening plot was picked on September 1!) Bright lemony yellow color. Aromas of peach flesh, ginger and quinine. A fat, sweet fruit bomb in the mouth, but with unusually strong acidity and a rather primary character for this wine. Finishes lemony, floral and long, with real premier cru precision and thrust. Boucheres goes blowsy and soft if the grapes are picked just a couple days late, but Roulot appears to have nailed it in 2009. He similarly likes his Boucheres from past firm-acid vintages like 2004 and 1996 (the first year for this cuvee