Meursault marks the beginning of the Great White Burgundy trio of itself and the two Montrachets, Puligny and Chassagne. Grown on limestone and Jurassic Marl, the vines obtain amazing depth which bring about delicious flavours, colours and structure in the wines. This is a very typical example with an unctuous texture and a palate of honeysuckle, lime, bracken and hazelnuts with developing butter and dairy notes, almonds and a sort of fat and silky balance. Really, really delicious.
Meursault is a very interesting village for a number of reasons. It's a very picturesque place, but it's the soils that really mark it out. The limestone and marble from Comblanchien, at the end of the Cotes de Nuits, reappears in Meursault and because of its density it has allowed for cellars to be deeper than those of neighbouring villages. This has led to less rush to get wines to market as there was physical space to store them and this in turn has traditionally given a much richer style for Meursault wines as they always been able to age for longer.
This is still true today (though there is absolutely no rush at all to sell the wines of Puligny or Chassagne!) and Meursault's richness is served well by its perfect exposure to south and east, allowing for long ripening and seldom any extremes of temperatures. No Grand Crus in this village, but 19 Premier Crus and individually named 'Climats' that are, in essence, a halfway house between Village and 1er Cru, thus pushing the value of 1er Crus considerably upward...
Jadot is a brilliant name in Burgundy and therefore the whole of France. Therefore the whole of the world and it's not too far from the truth to consider them to be one of the most respectable names in wine. They produce an incredibly large number of wines from the length and breadth of Burgundy and though one might imagine that this dilutes the intensity of their production values, they manage to hit the mark with almost every appellation in which they work.
We think that it's because they apply a sensible attitude to each village: working with what they have they start at the bottom level and attach an identity to the Village, then seek out the same values albeit at higher quality from the 1er and then Grand Cru vineyards. This way the typicity of the village is preserved and the character of the rarefied single vineyard plots can be found in the village wines.
Simplistic? Not sure, but even if it works, they have an absurd number of villages to work through and succeed with; and broadly speaking, they do much better than that. You want to know what Beaune tastes like? Try this; but it'll also be one of the best versions you can get - that's what a really good house like Jadot can do.
Region: Burgundy
Country: France
Grape(s): Chardonnay
Style: Silky, Mineral, Medium Full, Fresh, Elegant, Complex
Best food matches: Mature Cheeses, Lamb, Hard Cheeses, Fine Dining, Charcuterie
Alcohol: 13.5%