2024 Domaine Jean-Michel Gaunoux Meursault 1er Cru "Les Perrieres"

Notes

what i went with: Perrières is the Meursault vineyard everyone agrees should have been grand cru, and the famous bottlings are priced like it. Jean-Michel Gaunoux is the perfect entry into this incredible site because you don't have to take out a loan to try it! The Gaunoux name has been in the Côte de Beaune for generations: Henri Gaunoux’s estate was split between his sons in 1972, François in Meursault and Michel in Pommard, and Jean-Michel worked alongside his father François from 1978 before starting his own domaine in 1990 with parcels from his mother’s side of the family. He farms without chemicals, picks by hand, and gives the Perrières 15 to 16 months in barrel with only 15 to 30 percent new wood, so what you taste is the stony, saline core of the vineyard rather than the cooperage. The parcel is 0.6 hectares, planted in the early 1980s. Long adored by Neal Martin at Vinous, I think it’s one of the most honest Perrières on the market, and it’s the bottle I’d hand a client who wants to learn the vineyard before chasing the trophies that often cost more than other Grand Crus!