Bouchard Père & Fils Meursault “Les Clous” 2022 – A beautifully refined white Burgundy from organically grown vines on limestone soils at 300m altitude. Bright and mineral-driven, it offers aromas of lemon, pear, citrus peel, and subtle florals. The palate is elegant and precise, with crystalline minerality, lime freshness, and a long, saline finish. Cool and focused rather than opulent, showing purity and finesse. 

Jamessuckling.com | JS 94
Published: Aug 16, 2021

The lemony nose shines like the morning star. Very cool and elegant with no trace of the opulence that's widely considered to be typical for this appellation. Becomes more and more fascinating the further it flows over your palate. Wonderful, crystalline minerality and lime freshness at the very long finish. From 8.6 hectares of vines at 300 meters altitude on a stony, limestone soil, where the grapes have to be picked a week later than those in the warmer sites of this appellation. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.

The Wine Advocate | RP 89-91
Published: Jan 18, 2024

Aromas of pear, orange oil, mint and grapefruit introduce the 2022 Meursault Les Clous, a medium to full-bodied, satiny and giving wine with an expressive core of fruit and a saline finish.

The 2022 vintage is another tour de force for Bouchard, as the accompanying tasting notes reflect. Technical director Frédéric Weber reported little in the way of hydric stress, with rapid ripening at the end of the season that saw some parcels accumulate 1.5% potential alcohol in as little as three days. Fortunately, the team hadn't performed any deleafing and were able to apply protective kaolin clay as sunblock for the leaves and fruit to ride out the heat wave. Harvest began on August 26, with anything picked after 11 a.m. left overnight in a cold room for processing the following day, and the harvesters stopping work at 2 p.m.

As I've written before, viticulture chez Bouchard is among the best of the big houses (I drive past their Beaune vineyards several hundred times every year). Organic conversion is underway, and canopies are now hedged to 1.30 meters, around 30 centimeters higher than the classic low rognage that still predominates along the Côte—forward-thinking innovations that will no doubt find imitators in short order among other big players. Vinifications in red increasingly incorporate whole bunches, and whites are barreled down before the end of alcoholic fermentation, with foudres now employed for the second winter of élevage for some cuvées.

Inside Burgundy | IB 89-91
Published: Oct, 2023
Drink: 2027-2033

Mid lemon and lime. A perfumed floral hillside note. Quite lean on the palate but with a fresh drive that keeps the white fruit going through to the back of the palate.