« Qui boit du Meursault ne vit ni ne meurt sot »
This play on words is the unofficial slogan of the village of Meursault and might be roughly translated as “A person full of Meursault is no fool at all”. A fitting phrase for today’s wine, the 2014 Patrick Javillier Meursault les Tillets, which you’d be a fool not to taste!
The town of Meursault has been synonymous with rich, oak-driven white Burgundies since nearly the time of its first winegrowers, the Cistercian monks. Les Tillets, the vineyard name, hearkens back to the fragrant linden trees planted by these monks to surround the vines.
Like the Cistercians, today’s winemaker, Patrick Javillier, mixes instinct and an innate respect for the land with years of intense study to practice his craft. With his winemaking father, Javillier spent his youth in the vines before studying oenology at the University of Burgundy and producing his first vintage in 1974.
Humble though Javillier may be, wine critics have been effusive about his work. Allen Meadows of Burghound has said, “Few if any make better Bourgogne than Patrick Javillier” and of his Meursault, “It’s unusual to find villages Meursault offer this level of quality.” This is likely because Javillier bucks the modern trend of making instantly accessible white Burgundies and instead focuses on making wines of depth and complexity which will mature for years.
In his words:
“For me it's a pity because we can't make the wines we did 30 years ago. People drink the wines younger today. The wines I make are not supposed to be drunk the first year. You can begin to drink my wines one to one and a half year after bottling. In general my wines are at their best when they are between five and eight years. Some vintages are possible to keep for ten to 15 years.”
This is the result of both terroir and technique. The vineyard of Les Tillets is southern-facing on the high slopes above Meursault, letting it benefit from the higher acid that cool temperatures give. A careful pressing and extended time spent on the lees adds even more aging potential.
That being said, the 2014 is drinking beautifully today. This vintage, which “oozes charm” according to Jancis Robinson, was especially kind to Javillier, who called it “challenging yet ultimately satisfying”. The wine is a very light yellow in the glass with a grapey nose of kirsch, grapefruit, and mirabelle buttressed by an almost saline oakiness. This oak carries through from attack to finish in a beautifully integrated way, providing a fine mid-palate bitterness, notes of baking spice, and a creamy white chocolate finish. The fruit is ripe and well balanced with cherry and red apple. As it develops in the glass, there’s a very interesting, nori-like savory aspect that comes out to heighten the already complex palate. I paired this wine with lobster and English cheddar gougeres, a French version of cheddar bay biscuits that is even more sumptuous. The salty puff-pastry was a delicious accent to the creaminess of the typical Meursault oak.
At $52.99, this wine represents one of the best values in our 2014 Meursaults, and its elegance makes it worth every penny. This is definitely a wine to buy a case of and follow throughout the years, just as Javillier intended!