2021 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru

Jean-Marc Roulot was at a meeting with architects when I visited. He plans to construct a new rear building to increase barrel space, which will enable him to extend the duration of barrel aging and separate the white and the red vinification. Here, they feel that the 120mm of rain that fell in Meursault during the weeklong spell of showers at the end of June saved the vintage, benefiting from two or three spells of heavy downpours instead of one deluge, which would have resulted in much of the water running off. The harvest began on August 25 until September 5, commencing with younger vines in various plots where they observed rapid escalation in alcohol levels. Alcohol levels are between 12.7% and 13.2% without adjustment, and all the wines were racked just before harvest. At the time of my visit at the end of October, they were in stainless steel, with bottling planned for February or March. I tasted through the complete range of 2022s and 2021s in bottle, the depleted volumes of the latter meaning that they were bottled en magnum the previous June and July. It was a fascinating contrast between those two dichotomous vintages, and it was certainly not the case that one trumped the other. It depends on the cuvée. I often feel that Roulot’s “heart” lies in his exceptional articulation of Meursault Villages, which are advantaged under global warming. The Meix Chavaux and Narvaux deserve a small flotilla of superlatives. Within the Premier Crus, I was smitten by the Clos des Bouchères, which had the gall to outshine Les Perrières, though the Les Charmes will fight it out for supremacy once in bottle.

I’ve been visiting Jean-Marc Roulot for many years, but even an experienced winemaker like him, having made every vintage since 1989, had not witnessed a season in the vein of 2021. “It was my 33rd vintage and my most challenging one. Like all the winemakers, we were affected by frost,” he began. “The weather in the last two weeks in March was very warm. People in the vineyard were in shorts. In 10 days, the buds were out. Then we had frost and crystallised water that killed many buds. During the entire season, we lost 70-80%, more than in 2016, with 50-60% due to the frost. Frost is harder to cope with mentally than hail as you have much more work, knowing that the vines’ growing cycle will not be easy. It makes the pallissage difficult with the second-generation fruit.”

“Afterwards, it was rainy, especially at the beginning of July, for 10-12 days, so you couldn’t use a tractor. Working organically, even if you had a [dry] window, you knew the treatment would wash off. We also had oïdium. Then there was nothing in the vineyard, so we relied on the second-generation fruit, which meant everything was late. We took off the leaves to reduce humidity during the summer. Harvest began on 18 September - everyone started within two or three days. It was cold, the first time since 2013. We worked a lot with a sorting table to sort out the rot. All the wines were fermented in oak barrels, which meant there was no problem with the small volumes, plus alcohol levels were lower, so it was easier for the yeast to work. We stopped the press earlier and did more debourbage. As usual, the wines spent 12 months in oak and then six months in stainless steel. We will do a blind tasting to assess which needs to be bottled earlier and later. I think the wines will age as they have acidity. I still vinify my wines for people that age the wines.”

Despite the tumult, I find Roulot’s wines exceptional in 2021, given the context, brimming with tension and demonstrating complexity that would seem impossible to achieve in such a growing season. They shine brightly from top to bottom, proving why his reputation is so high amongst cognoscenti.

Knowing Roulot’s acting background, I ask, if 2021 were a film, what would it be? He replies: “The Shining.”