Meursault

In an effort to shed some light on how I study for WSET Diploma Course’s D3 exam, Le Club des Vins is running a series of posts covering wine regions. Today’s topic: Meursault

📍 Location

Meursault is the largest village in the Côte de Beaune. It stretches over 5 kilometers making Meursault 2,5 bigger than Puligny-Montrachet.

In a nutshell

France
Diverse soils, but all some limestone
Continental climate
Chardonnay

☁️ Climate

Meursault has a continental climate. Spring frosts can be a serious risk.

🌋 Soils

The soils are diverse, but all have limestone in common. The details are in the thickness of the top layer, the drainage, the status of the bedrock etc. Quite interestingly, there’s a gap in the Côte d’Or which leads to a variety of orientations in the local hillsides and contributes to the variation of styles in Meursault wines (see @winesearcher )

🍇 Grapes & styles

I don’t have to tell you the number one grape here is chardonnay but who knew you can add up to 15% Pinot Blanc?! 🤷🏻‍♀️ Not all sources are aware of the fact that Meursault does also produce some red. It’s not a lot and many of it is labelled differently (as Volnay or Blagny) but there is some Meursault Pinot Noir.⠀

😋 Taste

The books tell us that Meursault is the most rounded, richest chardonnay of them all, but the style has changed a bit over the years. By no means, I’m an expert on Meursault but I’m a big fan of @domainemikulski ❣️ The wines are very precise and mineral, different from, let’s say the famous Coche-Dury. It feels like the oppossite, the other end of the spectrum, but then again what do I know, I’ve tasted Coche-Dury only once (a-ma-zing but very very different in my opinion). If you want to know more about the domains, I suggest you read The Sommelier’s Atlas to Taste.⠀⠀

💡 Something you didn’t know (did you?)

There’s premier cru and there’s something called “lieu-dit”. These are unclassified single vineyards producing premium wines, like Les Narvaux. Some refer to them as “deuxiemes crus” which would have been easier, but hey we don’t do easy in Burgundy 🤪

Your turn now

I always put a new region on instagram first. If you have any additions or comments on a region, please do share. You can drop a comment on instagram or on the website – see below. Your help is much appreciated!