2020 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru

Domaine Thierry Matrot is one of several estates in Meursault given new impetus by the next generation – in this instance, sisters Elsa and Adèle Matrot. “Because of the heat, we lost between 30% and 50% of the crop, and we had to make sure we took out all the raisined berries,” Elsa Matrot explained. “We started picking on August 17 with the Pinot Noir and finished on August 25. We were worried about the forecast and it was very warm. We were looking at 13.6° natural alcohol on the Volnay Santenots and the seeds were brown, so we didn’t want to wait. We were supposed to start around August 20. There was hydric stress where the soils are shallow, but most of the time there was just a bit of sunburn. But we didn’t haven’t any differences in maturity. The reds underwent a five- to six-day cold soak and all the fruit is de-stemmed. Yields were normal for the whites, around 40–45hl/ha.” This was an impressive set of 2020s to follow their superb 2019s, not least a wonderful Puligny Les Chalumaux, a great Meursault-Charmes and a fine Auxey-Duresses Village that demonstrates that quality control is operating at all levels. Time to discover this domaine if you haven’t already.