2013 MEURSAULT BLAGNY, Premier Cru Domaine Antoine Jobard

This famous specialist Meursault Domaine (they have a small holding in Puligny-Montrachet too) was founded around 1860 (they are not 100% sure themselves!) but rose in prominence during the stewardship of François Jobard, who retired in 2007 and passed the mantle over to his son Antoine.

They make a traditional style of Meursault with plenty of time in oak and on lees (usually one year), fermented with natural yeasts, and usually bottled unfined and unfiltered. They want an “oak framework” in their wines and the level of new oak is always restricted to 10-15% even for the Premier Crus. These wines benefit very much from spending time in bottle to mature and evolve hence why we are now releasing the 2013 Blagny Premier Cru. This Premier Cru is on the Puligny-Montrachet border and vines here were planted in 1984. This vineyard has an elevated and very fresh style, with fine levels of acidity, and a mineral core.

2013 is a rather “forgotten” year in Burgundy and the vintage did have its challenges – not least a cool spring and mixed summer, and then a brutal hailstorm on 23 July which hit parts of the Côte de Beaune. An average August weather wise was the surpassed by an excellent September which elevated ripeness and allowed growers to give the grapes a longer hang time and make strict selections both in the vineyard and the sorting table. Acidity levels were high and there was always a freshness to both reds and whites from the start.

A rare chance to enjoy a 10 year old white Burgundy. Now fully mature, this is a superb opportunity to enjoy a mellow and very traditional style of classic style – with bottle aged nutty notes but also a core of stone fruits and minerality.