Roulot’s 2010 Meursault Boucheres comes across as weightless, perfumed and very beautiful. Floral aromatics lead to expressive stone fruits in this gracious, feminine wine. In 2010, the Boucheres is all subtlety, finesse and understatement. A distinctly salty finish full of tension and energy leaves a lasting impression. This is going to be a fascinating wine to follow over the coming years. The 2010 is the last Boucheres made by Roulot. As part of the purchase of Domaine Manuel, Jean-Marc Roulot acquired the 1.3 hectare Clos des Boucheres, and he prefers to focus his efforts there, as that plot is quite a bit larger than his existing holding in the greater Boucheres. Anticipated maturity: 2014+. (Not yet released) Jean-Marc Roulot commented that 2010 was easy in the vineyard but not so simple in the cellar, mostly because of very long malolactic fermentations that did not finish until the following August! The harvest started on September 17 and the wines came in with 12.8 -13.5 natural alcohols, which is at the higher end of the range for the domaine. Because of the lengthy malos, the 2010s were bottled a little later than normal. The 2010s are quite representative of the year in that they have considerable richness and at the same time high acidities. They are remarkably vivid, expressive to site and flat-out gorgeous. Readers will notice a new wine in 2010, the Auxey-Duresses, and can look forward to a new Clos de la Baronne and Clos des Boucheres with the 2011 vintage. Roulot fans will also want to be on the look out for Jean-Marc Roulot’s new line of eau de vies, an old family tradition that goes back many generations. The Framboise is one of the most pure expressions of fruit I have ever tasted, while the Abricot, made from Gerard and Jean-Louis Chave’s organically grown apricots in St. Joseph, is a bit more honeyed and liqueur-like.Unfortunately, my bottle of the Poire eau de vie broke, but I hope to be able to taste it soon. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524

The 2009 Meursault Boucheres emerges from the glass with lime, bright citrus, white flowers and crushed rocks. It shows gorgeous inner tension, expressive perfume and a long, impeccable silky finish. Bright floral notes add lift on the finish. This could probably use another few years in bottle. This is a very steep slope that passes very quickly from being ripe to over-ripe, so the harvest date is critical. Anticipated maturity: 2014+. Jean-Marc Roulot is one of the most thoughtful, introspective growers in Burgundy, so it is hardly a surprise his 2009s are so sublime. The domaine has grown to 15 hectares as of the 2011 harvest. Roulot was among a group of investors including Dominique Lafon who purchased Domaine Rene Manuel from Laboure-Roi. Readers can look forward to two new wines from Roulot a Meursault Clos de la Baronne, Meursault Clos de Bouchere, plus a little more production of the Poruzots. Roulot was among the first to harvest, and started picking on September 1st. Accodring to Roulot, the optimal window for picking has become much narrower with today’s increasingly warmer growing seasons. Roulot told me he prefers 2009 to 2008 as the fruit was healthier, with no botrytis or other issues, which resulted in wines of greater focus. The 2009s spent 12 months in oak followed by 6 months in steel with very light and infrequent batonnage. The Bourgogne saw less than 10% new barrels, while the village wines saw 15-18% new barrels and the premier crus 25-30% new barrels. Unfortunately I was not able to taste the 2010s as they were in full malolactic fermentation. A Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300 and imported by: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524

Following a tasting through his 2012s and an interesting discussion about premature oxidation issues, Jean-Marc kindly offered to open three older bottles that he served blind. The 2007 Meursault Bouchere has a clean, slightly resinous bouquet with hints of dried white flowers, damp straw and dried peach - perhaps a little more forward than I was expecting. The palate is fresh with a popcorn-tinged entry. The palate has a saline entry and fine acidity. It is not complex but it offers a lovely hint of dried honey on the finish with touches of white pepper on the aftertaste. Very fine.

Picked the first day of harvest, yet at his highest alcohol (13.6%) of the vintage Roulot’s 2006 Meursault Boucheres represents another sort of departure from the norm for his collection. Fat, creamy, honeyed, and with a slightly awkward milky note, it is finds contrast in the bitterness of toasted nuts and citrus zest, and certainly clings impressively, but lacks the brightness, refreshment, or refinement of the best wines here today. I won’t prognosticate for now as to its bottle potential. Actor-vigneron Jean-Marc Roulot bottles 16 different wines (all but three of them white) from his roughly 25 acres of vines. A partisan of clarity, finesse, and mineral expression, he began picking in haste four days before the ban de vendange. Roulot professes a preference for the style of 2004 (“It has an energy I adore,” he says) or 2005. Yet an excellent case can be made – and I think these wines eloquently make it – for the felicitous marriage of 2006 vintage richness and generosity with Roulot’s brand of restraint and his desire to bring out the details and fine points of differentiation between sites. And Roulot is surely the unchallenged master when it comes to unlocking the potential in a wide array of non-premier cru Meursault vineyards (albeit at premier cru prices). The best of these wines – as my notes below testify – are quite unlike others from their vintage. Roulot uses a high percentage of larger barrels, and racks his wines into tank for an extended period, which is the condition in which I last tasted them. Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524

The 2005 Meursault Bouchere has a stern, mineral nose that is moving into secondary aromas with almond, touches of fennel, mint and dried apricot. The palate is well balanced with moderate complexity, hints of dried honey just coming through, although it finishes just a little brusquely. This is still quite closed and deserves a couple more years in bottle and then it may well deserve a higher appraisal.