A visit with Jean-Marc Roulot

I had no plans to visit Jean-Marc Roulot when I arrived in Burgundy, but sometimes it is nice to have an extra day on a long wine trip, in case stuff comes up. Well, stuff came up, and I had a wonderful visit with Jean-Marc who also shares my passion for film. Jean-Marc is also a well accomplished actor as well as one of the greatest white winemakers on the planet. It actually was pretty funny how the appointment came about. I was at Dujac (more on that in a future blog post), and we had an awesome tasting and lunch there, and I was tweeting all about it as I am big on Twitter. Well, Jean-Marc is also on Twitter and he follows me. He called Jeremy Seysses, apparently, after seeing my tweets and asked if Lyle was in town and if so please send him over, he is a fan of my tweets. I mean, I tweet a lot. And a good amount of it is NY sports stuff and the rest is wine and me kvetching about long lines at Duane Reade and the ilk. So, I thought it was funny, that Jean-Marc liked it. Flattered of course, but still humorous. But, hey, who am I to complain? My tweets got me an appointment at Roulot.

Chez Roulot

The empty cellar

I was weened on the '99's when the wines were affordable and not really allocated. '99 is not a high acid vintage, but like '09, the wines have shimmering acid structures. It is amazing what Jean-Marc can do with acidity. Like an acid magician. We blind tasted two wines and he asked us, "Which one do you prefer?" I preferred one and my travel companion, preferred the other. It was '08 and '09 Meursault Tillets and I preferred the '09. As a self-proclaimed acid-head, this was surprising to me as the profile of '08 would be more to my liking. But then again, this was the acid magician.

We went into the cellar on a particular day when not a lot of barrels were there. Not sure why. I cannot remember. Maybe being cleaned? We first tasted the 2011's out of tank and barrel. I have notes on some wines but did not take stellar notes as I wanted to be more present and note taking can take away from that sometimes. Here is what I can remember. In 2011 there will be an Auxey Duresses Blanc and this wine is off the chain and could provide a great price point between the Bourgogne Blanc and the Meursault lieu-dits. The wine is denser and more minerally than normal Auxey-Duresses Blanc and has the classic Roulot sweet, ripe yet potent acidity. Amazing length and elegance. This will be an astonishing value. The '11 lieu-dit Meursaults were incredible. Roulot is a master of this "classification." They all taste like excellent 1er Crus. '11 is more like '07 than '04, '08 or '10. Jean-Marc prefers riper vintages rather than lean ones. His Twitter handle is Luchets007 as he loves the Luchets 2007. The 2011 is very similar. '11 Meix Chavaux was as Meix Chavaux should be. Chewy, expansive and broad, but still with that Roulot precision and intensity. '11 Perierres was magnificent. Complex like only the best wines can be, with so much structure, along with richness. Really backwards when tasted but oh man this was great and will last 30+ years. This is built to last. His new Meursault called Boucheres is fantastic. Rich and minerally with boot-strapping acidity. The 2011 Vireuils is also a wonderful wine. More lean than Meix Chavaux or Luchets, yet so precise and fine with tremendous structure and a thumping finish. Very minerally lieu-dit. '11 Tessons is the best lieu-dit, or should I say my favorite. It has insane acidity. Reminds me of a baby Perierres. Just lights you up. In 2011 the acidity is very special at Roulots. Sweet, salty, persistent and ripe.

Then we tasted the 2010's out of bottle. This was maybe the single best collection of wine I have ever tasted at an estate. The 2010 Prums, the 2009 Schafer-Frohlich GG's, the 2010 Immichs, the 2010 Lauers and the 2005 Zillikens are all close seconds. The 2010 Roulots are a must buy for any wine lover. The wines are serene. Zen-like in their balance and terroir expression. Depth like only the greatest vintages can provide and acid. Not just any acid, but the most remarkable acidity you will ever taste in white wine. The acid is like a flavor component in these '10's. We compared it to 1996. 1996 is the best young vintage I have ever tasted. The '10 Bourgogne Blanc is a great value and has the Roulot bloodlines firmly implanted in the  wine. Great acids, ripe fruit, not too complex, nice minerality and powerful. The best Bourgogne Blanc. All the lieu-dits are stunning. My favorites being what my favorites usually are. Tesson, Tillets, Vireuils and Luchets. Perrieres is just an incomprehensible wine to me. So complex and structured. Really needs 10-15 years just to be approachable and then my guess is it would be killer in another 10 years. Seems to have the structure to hang on for a while after that.

We talked on and off about wine and film for the whole time in the cellar, which was quite spacious because of the barrels not being there. We also tasted '04 Tillets which was smoking but you could tell it did quite have the fruit ripeness of '09, '10 or '11. More like '08. Then we asked for a lunch recommendation, but before that he opened a bottle of '96 Tessons for us and it was just monumental. I love '96's as I said before but they are hard to find for various reasons, pre-mox being the biggest. This was perfect as it had not travelled far. 180 feet maybe. Jean-Marc then recommended a restaurant in a hotel called "The Center" and it was fantastic. Escargots and fresh Grenouilles for a very Burgundian lunch. Oh, we also left with the '96 Tesson and tasted it later in the day and maybe it was the best white wine I had in three weeks of being in Europe.

A killer visit. I look forward to stopping by again next time I am in Meursault. I gotta up my Twitter game.