The Domaine de la Confrérie’s estate is situated in Burgundy’s Hautes-Côte-de-Beaune, near a small village named Cirey, where Christophe Pauchard has been making wine since 1991. Prior to taking over his father’s estate, Pauchard received an education in Enology before taking on several apprenticeships in Burgundy and the Rhône Valley. Utilizing his education and passion as soon as he took over, Pauchard built a new temperature controlled winery so that he could appropriately make and age his wines; throughout the years that followed, he also expanded his vineyard holdings (some of which were Premier Cru) with purchases in Meursault and Volnay. The Meursault we are offering today is his village level bottling under $40 a bottle. Part of what makes this Meursault so alluring is its refreshing high acid and delicate texture. A lot of Meursault bottlings are rich and weighty, but this youthful expression brings high acid and crispness, layered over a delicate backbone of crushed limestone minerality. This is absolutely due to the incredible terroir of Meursault, as well as the clean and simple viticulture and winemaking of Pauchard with little new oak. He ferments with indigenous yeasts, lets the wine undergo malolactic fermentation, and then ages the wine for a year before bottling in mostly neutral French oak. This leaner style of Meursault is going to be a real beauty as it ages.

This Meursault luminously shines with a pale, light golden straw core that moves to green and gold reflections on the rim. Vibrant aromatics of citrus lead the way with lemon and lime blossoms, yellow apple core, fresh white flowers, chalk, oyster shells and a touch of baking spices. This medium bodied, high acid wine possesses crisp flavors of green apple, lime blossoms and green plums, with a very fine crushed limestone minerality driving the long finish. It is important to note this is not a big, weighty Meursault—it is a very refreshing approach Meursault with thirst quenching acidity, and it is delicious right now while still being a perfect candidate for cellar aging. I will be drinking some of this now over the summer and holding several bottles for the next five to six years when it will really hit its sweet spot. When drinking now, open well before drinking at serve at just below cellar temperature. Honestly, I would open the bottle in the morning and leave the cork out. The wine was twice as good the next day so oxygen really helps the wine. Serve this wine with this fennel-rubbed pork tenderloin for a refreshing pairing.