Domaine Roulot has always been among the best producers of Chardonnay in Burgundy. An old family estate based in Meursault since 1820 and now under the guidance of Jean-Marc Roulot, the domaine is now amongst the few whose wines are always sold out even before they are in bottle.

In the early 1990s Jean-Marc set the domaine on the course to organic farming. Ever since, no herbicides have been used and only plowing is used, while all treatments are managed to minimize any effect on the vineyards’ natural microbial life. The age of the vines is relatively high due to major replanting done by Jean­-Marc’s father in the 1950s.

Jean-Marc believes in making wines that he would like to drink rather than making wines that will appeal to modern palates. The elevage is relatively long, around 18 months, while the wines are racked into stainless steel tanks after a year. Roulot is not a strong advocate of lees stirring, a popular technique in Meursault to gain richness. He tells author Clive Coates, “It does, I admit, create richness, but it also creates heaviness, and one loses purity.” Jean-Marc therefore stirs a maximum of six times, only in years of high acidity and never after the malolactic fermentation. What sets the domaine even further apart is Jean-Marc’s commitment to a bright, chiseled, thoroughbred style of Meursault, while many other wines of this village tend towards richness and concentration. Their elegance and amazing precision lend themselves to long aging in the cellars.