2014 Domaine Bitouzet-Prieur, Meursalt ”Les Corbins” White Burgundy, France.
While I’ve focused on this winery’s Volnay Rouge bottlings in the past, this wine, made by Vincent Bitouzet, from the traditional Domaine Bitouzet-Prieur, who makes elegantly structured wines, crafts fantastic white Burgundy, and is known primarily for his Meursault, like this beauty, from his small winery in heart of the Cote de Beaune. I must give a big thank you for a friend who shared this special bottle with me, this 2014 Meursault Les Corbins is showing fantastically well and is gaining a lovely mature golden color and secondary complexity, though still having an inner brightness and vivid detail, making it an absolutely rewarding white Burgundy that shows a layering of classic apple, pear, baked peach, lemon curd that is nicely accented by clove, hazelnut, lessy toast and texture with a touch of matchstick, wet stones and delicate aromatics. Everything flows with elegance and richness on the medium/full palate, this really delivers the Meursault experience with loads of personality and is a totally pleasing wine for the purists and Burgundy fans. As I taste more and more of these wines I become an even bigger fan, this one confirms their quality and depth.
As I have noted with their red wines, Bitouzet-Prieur’s whites, get native yeast natural fermentation and there is never more than 20% new oak is used for the aging here, thus allowing a true sense of the place to shine through and giving a authentic sensuality to the wines, which this Les Corbins certainly delivering now. The Bitouzet-Prieur Meursaults, as I have noted in the past, are slightly reductive and restrained in style when young, but get absolutely delicious with bottle age, as this one has, and the reds are similar, as their Volnay Taillepieds also has shown in a recent tasting, these may not be overly flamboyant expressions by any means, they do get wonderfully regal over time. These are subtle and refined examples of the Cote de Beaune Terroir(s) that some require patience, all of which is rewarded in examples such as this. The Bitouzet family, as noted by importer Rosenthal Imports, owns 1.5 hectares of “Les Corbins” which sits just underneath the 1er Cru “Les Plures” on a deep and rocky mix of clay-limestone soils, which gives this Lieu-Dit its roundness. Only two barrels per year are reserved for the USA, which make this a rare treat indeed and a super value! Thanks again Marc for sharing and the blind tasting, that was fun my friend.
($65 to 70 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive