White Burgundy's biggest secret
27 August 2020

If you are yearning for some classic white drinking to round off the summer, then look no further than the Terroir d’Exception from Château de Meursault. For those not yet in on the secret, the Terroir d’Exception is a rare piece of land and a unique story - a parcel of vines slap bang in the middle of Meursault’s finest vineyard but classified as Bourgogne. Only since 2012 has the great potential of this land been realised, a year which heralded a new dawn for the historic but long underperforming Château de Meursault. For this was when the ambitious Halley family bought it with the mission of making some of the Côte’s greatest wines. The Terroir d’Exception has become one of the jewels in their crown. The wine hails from a plot of 40 years-old vines between Albert Grivault’s Clos des Perrières and Meursault Perrières itself. A Premier Cru site if ever you saw one but for the fact that it was a quarry up until 1977, which has meant that it was never classed as such. Crisp, clean, citrus and stone influenced flavours that really do speak of Perrières - this is a Bourgogne that truly rises above its status. Perhaps showing even stronger minerality than its predecessors and with less visible oak, too, the 2016 offers super bright flavours of crystallised lemons and salted citrus rind, interspersed with apricot and honeysuckle, finishing on savoury notes of dry stones and rock salt. Long, focused and full to the brim with flavour and personality. A profound Bourgogne Blanc that delivers a taste of Meursault Perrières complexity and minerality.