2013 Meursault Les Perrieres

Picked October 2, without recourse to chaptalization, the 2013 Meursault 1er Cru Perrieres has a refined bouquet with scents of dried honey, almond and smoke, although I would like to see more stoniness develop by the time of bottling. The palate is well balanced and quite powerful on the entry. Great depth here, although it needs more tension and race toward the finish. There is potential here, but it needs to show a little more breeding by the time of bottling.

Picked October 2, without recourse to chaptalization, the 2013 Meursault 1er Cru Perrieres has a refined bouquet with scents of dried honey, almond and smoke, although I would like to see more stoniness develop by the time of bottling. The palate is well balanced and quite powerful on the entry. Great depth here, although it needs more tension and race toward the finish. There is potential here, but it needs to show a little more breeding by the time of bottling. ||Both proprietor Edouard Labruyère and winemaker Nadine Gublot escorted me through their 2013s at the domaine this year. "Jacques Prieur has 21 hectares of vine," Edouard told me. "We lost 10 hectares to hail in 2014. Much of Volnay, Pommard and Beaune were completely devastated, with damage also inflicted in Meursault and Puligny Combettes. It seems that there is a path from Beaune and Pommard where a storm comes every year. The cannons were aimed to come from the Massif Central, but the storms came from the south. However, it seems to have worked in other places such as the Cote Châlonnais." Edouard mentioned that personally he would like to see some use of protective nets allowed, a view shared by many that I spoke to. "The hail was worse in 2013 than 2012. In 2013, we experienced the same hail damage on 23 July that destroyed 100% of Pommard, a large part of Volnay and to a lesser impact in Beaune. In 2013, we lost 6 hectares out of 21 hectares. Our team went into the vineyard, spraying some products to help the vineyard recover, but whether it has an impact, I am not sure. We treated the vineyard as if nothing happened, in a normal way to protect from mildew, oidium. We started picking 2 October with the Chardonnay, the Pinot Noir four days later finishing with the Volnay Champans on 12 October. Sometimes we use whole bunch, but it was not possible in 2013 because of the quantity." Like other growers with a large portfolio of holdings, not everything worked in 2013, because of the adverse conditions, so you have to winnow the wheat from the chaff. Some of the Volnay wines were disorientated and compromised by the poor flowering and hail damage, while others shrugged it off. Some of the Grand Crus, especially the Chambertin, left something to be desired while Charmes-Chambertin is an absolute gem. eRobertParker.com.December, 2014