2017 Meursault Les Perrieres

Revisited after a year in bottle, the 2017 Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières confirms its promise, unwinding in the glass with scents of citrus oil, crisp green orchard fruit, honeysuckle, crushed chalk and beeswax. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, its elegantly textural attack segueing into a vibrant, tightly wound core, concluding with a mineral finish. Matrot's parcel here is located between those of Jean-Marc Roulot and Armand Heitz.

Coming from 56-year-old vines and fermented and aged in barrel, the 2017 Meursault Perrières 1er Cru is a gem in the lineup and certainly delivers the goods. Offering a vivid bouquet of white flowers and stone and citrus fruits, beautiful wet stone and flinty minerality, and some salty seaside notes, it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, racy yet integrated acidity, and a crisp, lengthy finish. It’s a brilliant, perfectly balanced Meursault that almost has a Chassagne-Montrachet-like purity and elegance.

(picked on August 29, the same day as the Charmes and Combettes): Pale, light yellow. Tighter on the nose than the Combettes, with aromas of peach, underripe pineapple and white pepper energized by crushed rock. Concentrated, sappy wine, conveying a thickness of texture without any impression of weight. Shows the most urgent mineral energy of these 2017s--and not a bit overripe. This wine, along with the Combettes and Quintessence, will get a slightly longer élevage than the rest, and will be bottled sometime between November and January, according to Elsa Matrot.