François and Vincent Bitouzet’s family has been living and working vines in Meursault for hundreds of years and today, they hold what is probably the village’s single most diverse and impressive collection of real estate. The Bitouzets farm their narrow slice of "Charmes" with the same zero-compromise approach as all their sites in the village—organically, with zero chemical herbicides or pesticides. All fruit is farmed and harvested by hand.

This restraint and patience is echoed in the cellar, where juice is vinified gently and slowly with modest sulfites and zero effort to expedite or simplify the process. The end goal is to produce a quintessential and classically styled expression of Burgundian Chardonnay that matures in the cellar for years while gradually deepening in aromatics and complexity. 

This effort combines opulence and immediate drinkability with a structure that bodes well for cellaring. This is a ripe vintage, but this is also Bitouzet-Prieur, whose wines are reliably taut, bright, and full of energy. In the glass, it’s a deepening yellow-gold moving to straw/silver at the rim, with powerful aromas of yellow apple, Meyer lemon, acacia honey, fresh cream, and wet stones that carry over to the silky, full-bodied palate. The trademark Bitouzet freshness and minerality keeps the wine lively on the palate and aromatic on this finish, and really, we’re hard-pressed to think of a more deeply satisfying, full-body white Burgundy experience.