2012 Domaine Roulot, Bourgogne Blanc, White Burgundy, France.
Jean-Marc Roulot’s basic Blanc is all from Meursault and comes off 30-40 year vines on clay and limestone soils, making this one of the all time great values in Bourgogne AC, and this 2012 is simply stunning and while young and lean, drinks fantastically well. My biggest complaint here, is that I couldn’t get more! Sadly this beautiful Chardonnay will be almost impossible to secure, but I had to put some words down it anyway, and it serves as a reminder to buy more in the future, I highly recommend getting on the list to get this when the 2013 version comes up, it is as always imported by Kermit Lynch and the 2013’s should be arriving in Fall. In case you know where some of this 2012 is, run and get it, don’t wait a second, I enjoyed a bottle of this the other night and it was sublime. We all know or should know that Roulot makes some of the greatest Chardonnay on the planet and his intense, mineral driven and dynamic Meursault Crus are coveted and collected the world over, and my limited experience with them left a mark on me, these are glorious examples and worth every penny, though the best deal is the plain and simple Bourgogne Blanc that is any other than plain and simple! The 2012 Blanc starts with white flowers, citrusy brightness, chalk/stoney notes and a zesty steely vibrancy leading to a crisp cool palate of lemon, spiced pear and golden apple with hints of clove, straw, saline and wet stones. With air the wine fills out with white peach and lime notes, but it stays poised, brisk and tension filled and at 12.8% it is easy to quaff, which I did, this is sublime stuff of vivid layers, transparency and vigor, really lovely. The fruit is succulent and polished, it shows good density and textural feel, but lithe and taught with gorgeous energy and cut, this is special stuff, best to hold another few years in bottle, but there’s no regret in opening now, I was thrilled by it’s performance, drink from 2015 to 2020.
($42 Est.) 93 Points, grapelive