The Wine Advocate | RP 92-94
Published: Jan 18, 2024

Bouchard is replanting a big block in this site, so the 2022 Meursault 1er Cru Genevrières is a smaller cuvée than usual. Unfurling in the glass with notes of pear, white flowers, fresh hazelnuts and ripe citrus, it's medium to full-bodied, satiny and vibrant, with a fleshy core of fruit that exhibits good concentration and cut.

The 2022 vintage is another tour de force for Bouchard, as the accompanying tasting notes reflect. Technical director Frédéric Weber reported little in the way of hydric stress, with rapid ripening at the end of the season that saw some parcels accumulate 1.5% potential alcohol in as little as three days. Fortunately, the team hadn't performed any deleafing and were able to apply protective kaolin clay as sunblock for the leaves and fruit to ride out the heat wave. Harvest began on August 26, with anything picked after 11 a.m. left overnight in a cold room for processing the following day, and the harvesters stopping work at 2 p.m.

As I've written before, viticulture chez Bouchard is among the best of the big houses (I drive past their Beaune vineyards several hundred times every year). Organic conversion is underway, and canopies are now hedged to 1.30 meters, around 30 centimeters higher than the classic low rognage that still predominates along the Côte—forward-thinking innovations that will no doubt find imitators in short order among other big players. Vinifications in red increasingly incorporate whole bunches, and whites are barreled down before the end of alcoholic fermentation, with foudres now employed for the second winter of élevage for some cuvées.

Winemaker

In olden days, the vineyards of this great Meursault must have been surrounded by junipers whose name has lived on. This prestigious appellation was classified as a "Tete de cuvee" as early as 1855 by Dr Lavalle in his renowned book "Histoire et Statistiques de la Vigne et des Grands Vins de la Cote-d'Or". At that time, the terms Premiers Crus and Grands Crus were not in use. Bouchard Pere & Fils owns 2.65 hectares of Meursault Genevrieres, often the first Chardonnays to be harvested on the estate.

T A S T I N G
TASTING NOTE: Subtle bouquet of fruit and flowers combined with toasted hints. Full yet refined, without the slightest heaviness and with the liveliness typical of Les Genevri?res. A voluptuous wine. Good ageing potential.
FOOD/WINE PAIRING: Fish dishes in sauce, foie gras.
SERVING TEMPERATURE: Between 12C to 14C
AGEING POTENTIAL: 5 to 7 years and more

K N O W - H O W
HARVEST: manual, in small cases of 13 kg. Careful manual sorting of each grape.
VINIFICATION: The pressing takes place in two phases: evacuation of the first juice, then pressing in two-hourly cycles.
MATURING: 9 to 10 months in French oak, with up to 15% new oak, depending on the vintage, and for 3 to 4 months in stainless steel vats.
AGEING: The cellars of the Bastions of the ancient Ch?teau de Beaune offer natural ambient conditions that are perfectly adapted to ageing the Premiers Crus.

V I N E Y A R D
GRAPE VARIETY: Chardonnay
EXPOSITION: East-Southeast
SOIL OF THE APPELATION: Gravelly soil with clay and limestone, iron traces
TOTAL SURFACE OF THE APPELATION IN PRODUCTION:16.48 hectares
DOMAIN SURFACE IN PRODUCTION: 2.65 hectares