2019 Domaine Comtesse de Cherisey La Genelotte Meursault-Blagny Premier Cru Burgundy 750 ml

Our expectations for today’s wine were high.

And the Comtesse de Cherisey’s Meursault-Blagny Premier Cru La Genelotte absolutely blew them away. 

This wine has the kind of poise, concentration, and length we expect from a Grand Cru bottle, and it’s a prime example of why some sites in Meursault are worthy of Grand Cru status. Grown on 60-year-old vines on the high-altitude, limestone-rich Genelotte site in one of the great Burgundy vintages of all time, it’s the kind of bottle that led Wine Advocate to exclaim, “Burgundy purists who're not familiar with this producer should beat a path to [vigneron Laurent Martelet’s] door.”

Martelet has an eagle eye for winemaking minutiae, and crafts standout bottles in minuscule quantities. He’s also a philosopher, and he embodies this quote from Aristotle: “Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.” He tends the 60-year-old vines with unparalleled care, and can rattle off specific details of past seasons, down to exact dates in the vine cycle. 

The 2019 La Genelotte’s complex aromatics might tempt you to simply leave it open on your table all night, enjoying the aromas of quince, toasted hazelnuts, raw oats, yellow apple, and lemon curd. The mouthfeel is broad but showcases the chiseled acidity of a great site from a fantastic vintage. You’ll know immediately that you’re savoring the result of scrupulous winemaking, but the wine still flaunts an air of effortlessness. 

This is a five-star Meursault in our book, and an uncrowned Grand Cru if we ever saw one.