Wine Advisor
Domaine Roulot, Meursault Les Vireuils 2006
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: David Schildknecht
From cool, high-elevation, east-facing vineyards on the communal border with Auxey-Duresses, Roulot’s 2006 Meursault Vireuils gushes with juicy grapefruit and lime. Simultaneously bright and sassy yet soothingly rich in texture and underlain by honey and nut oils, this Riesling-like Meursault finishes with delicious delicacy, subtle salinity, nipping spice, and infectious refreshment. I suspect this will keep well for at least 5-7 years. Actor-vigneron Jean-Marc Roulot bottles 16 different wines (all but three of them white) from his roughly 25 acres of vines. A partisan of clarity, finesse, and mineral expression, he began picking in haste four days before the ban de vendange. Roulot professes a preference for the style of 2004 (“It has an energy I adore,” he says) or 2005. Yet an excellent case can be made – and I think these wines eloquently make it – for the felicitous marriage of 2006 vintage richness and generosity with Roulot’s brand of restraint and his desire to bring out the details and fine points of differentiation between sites. And Roulot is surely the unchallenged master when it comes to unlocking the potential in a wide array of non-premier cru Meursault vineyards (albeit at premier cru prices). The best of these wines – as my notes below testify – are quite unlike others from their vintage. Roulot uses a high percentage of larger barrels, and racks his wines into tank for an extended period, which is the condition in which I last tasted them. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524
About the Producer
Domaine Roulot, founded by Guillaume Roulot in 1830, is well respected Meursault-based domaine producing mainly Chardonnay wines from a range of premier cru and village-level sites across the appellation. The wines are held in high esteem by critics and are much sought-after. The domaine is currently run by actor-turned-winemaker Jean-Marc Roulot. Roulot has numerous holdings across Meursault premiers crus, including 0.28 hectares (0.69 acres) in Charmes, 0.26 hectares (0.64 acres) in Perrières and 0.16 hectares (0.39 acres) in Les Bouchères, as well as 0.2 hectares (0.5 acres) in neighboring Monthélie Premier Cru Les Champs Fulliots. A further four hectares (ten acres) cover village-level vineyards in Meusault such as Les Luchets and Les Tessons Clos de Mon Plaisir – a wine strongly associated with the Roulot label. All are Chardonnay based wines, although the domaine also produces an Aligoté, a Bourgogne Blanc and Rouge, an Auxey-Duresses Premier Cru, and a village-level red. The red wines are made from Pinot Noir – Burgundy's key red grape variety. Domaine Roulot established itself in the upper echelon of white Burgundy producers under the late Guy Roulot. Guy was one of the first producers of the region to bottle single vineyards separately, including village lieux-dits. He died in 1982 and his son Jean-Marc took over in 1989, farming the vineyards organically. As well as winemaking, Jean-Marc Roulot is also known for his cinematographic appearances (he initially studied screen acting in Paris), including the Burgundy-based coming-of-age film Ce Qui Nous Lie (released as "Back to Burgundy" for anglophone audiences), parts of which were filmed at the domaine
