Domaine Roulot

Guy Roulot, a legendary producer of some of the finest Meursaults, if not some of the world’s finest white wines, took his family’s small production domaine to stardom. Guy’s marriage to Geneviève Coche and his own hard work added more prime parcels to the family’s holdings, which he vinified and bottled separately – a novelty for a domaine which had been distilling, rather than vinifying, their grapes just a generation before. As a result, Domaine Roulot has become the master of the lieu-dit, not to mention the five premier cru parcels they farm in Meursault and Monthelie. Guy’s sudden death in 1982 left the family in transition, as his son, Jean-Marc was in Paris pursuing a career in acting. A series of three winemakers aided in the changeover until 1989, when Jean-Marc was at last ready to take on the direction of the estate.

Since then, Jean-Marc’s progress has brought even more notice to a domaine that had already enjoyed a great reputation. The wines of Domaine Roulot are now among the most sought after wines in all of Burgundy. Jean-Marc has been successful in fine-tuning the domaine’s particular, stand-out style. While Domaine Roulot had once pioneered the single-vineyard bottlings of Meursault, they were now influencing other domaines to follow suit, thereby raising the stakes in this exalted appellation. 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. Jean-Marc’s wines certainly express a certain depth and sumptuousness thanks to the appellation’s terroir, however his wines also show focus and restraint. Their elegance and amazing precision lend themselves to long aging in the cellars. Jean-Marc loves cooking and believes the strong mineral backbone of his wines and their fresh acidity marry well with food. This is why one is more likely to find their wines in restaurants rather than in wine shops.

Technical Information

Wine	Blend	Vine Age	Soil Type	Vineyard Area*
Bourgogne Aligoté	Aligoté	20-80 years	Clay, Limestone	N/A
Bourgogne Blanc (vines planted in village of Meursault)	Chardonnay	30-40 years	Clay, Limestone	2.64 ha
Auxey-Duresses Blanc	Chardonnay	60 years	Clay, Limestone	.48 ha
Meursault Les Tessons, Clos de Mon Plaisir	Chardonnay	Planted in 1951, 1961	Clay, Limestone	.85 ha
Meursault Les Tillets	Chardonnay	Planted in 1974	Clay, Limestone	.49 ha
Meursault Les Meix-Chavaux	Chardonnay	50 years	Clay, Limestone	.95 ha
Meursault Les Vireuils	Chardonnay	Planted in 1950s	Clay, Limestone	.67 ha
Meursault Porusots 1er Cru (a blend of two vineyards-Le Porusots, and Porusots Dessous)	Chardonnay	25-50 years	Clay, Limestone	.42 ha
Meursault Les Luchets	Chardonnay	Planted in 1929	Clay, Limestone	1.03 ha
Meursault-Bouchères 1er Cru	Chardonnay	30-40 years	Clay, Limestone	N/A
Meursault-Charmes 1er Cru	Chardonnay	Planted in 1940s	Clay, Limestone	.28 ha
Meursault-Perrières 1er Cru	Chardonnay	Planted in 1960s	Clay, Limestone	.26 ha
Bourgogne Rouge (a blend of parcels in Volnay and Puligny)	Pinot Noir	N/A	Clay, Limestone	N/A
Monthelie Rouge	Pinot Noir	Planted in late 1980s	Clay, Limestone	.36 ha
Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru Rouge	Pinot Noir	30-40 years	Clay, Limestone	.73 ha
Bourgogne Blanc **	Chardonnay	N/A	Clay, Limestone	N/A
Meursault Les Vireuils **	Chardonnay	N/A	Clay, Limestone	N/A
Meursault-Genevrières 1er Cru **	Chardonnay		Clay, Limestone
Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru “Le Cailleret”**	Chardonnay	N/A	Clay, Limestone	N/A
Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru **	Chardonnay	N/A	Clay, Limestone	N/A
Chevalier-Montrachet Grand Cru **	Chardonnay	N/A	Clay, Limestone	N/A
* "ha" = hectares; one hectare equals roughly two and a half acres

VITICULTURE / VINIFICATION

**Denotes wine from Jean-Marc Roulot’s micro-negociant project. All grapes are hand-harvested and selected in the vineyard, and wines are vinified, raised, and bottled in the Roulot cellars by Jean-Marc Roulot.

• Vineyards are farmed organically

• The majority of vines are pruned in Guyot, with some in Cordon

• Soils are plowed regularly

• Yields are limited by de-budding

• A rigorous sorting of the grapes follows the harvest

Whites:

• All of the whites (except the Aligoté) are fermented in oak barriques, an average of 15-18% of which are new
• Aligoté ferments in stainless steel
• Whites are lightly stirred on their lees every three to four weeks, until malolactic fermentation
• Wines undergo malolactic fermentation
• Aligoté ages in stainless steel and is bottled after one year
• Bourgogne Blanc ages in both barrel and stainless steel
• Whites (except Aligoté) age in barrel sur lie for 11 months, then are racked to stainless steel for 7 more months of aging before bottling

Reds:

• Grapes are de-stemmed
• Vinification in open top, wooden cuves
• Must is kept at a low temperature for 3-4 days before fermentation starts
• Fermentation lasts about 12 days, with pump-overs and occasional punch-downs
• Reds age for 12-15 months in barrel, 15-18% of which is new