The husband-wife team of Domaine Bernard-Bonin offer terroir-driven, artisanal examples of white Burgundy that boast a true sense of place. Nicolas Bernard and Veronique Bonin, daughter of the revered Michelot family, took the helm of the domaine in 1998 and have shown immense dedication in the vineyards as well as the cellar. With ample respect for traditional techniques, Nicholas follows the phases of the lunar cycle in viticulture and winemaking. They practice a hands-off approach in the cellar in an effort to allow the terroir and growing season to reveal its full personality in the bottle. Derived from limestone and clays soils that are advantageously perched just upslope from Premier Crus, Les Bouchères and Les Gouttes d’Or, Les TIllets vineyard has become one of my favorite lieux-dit sites in Meursault and typically has long ageing potential.

Following a natural early harvest and crush, the wine is aged for roughly 15-18 months in predominantly neutral oak. The wine matures on its lees and undergoes occasional batonnage, which delivers creamy aromatics and a mouthfeel that only the best examples of Meursault deliver. The wine is racked from its lees prior to bottling without fining or filtration, which allows the wine to age gracefully on its micro-sediment. The 2013 vintage delivered some of the lowest yields in years, which made for uncharacteristically more concentrated fruit flavors than this site is accustomed to. Coupled with the distinct minerality and freshness from the upslope site of this vineyard, the 2013 Les Tillets reveals a wine of the elegance and balance we all crave in great Meursault without the Premier Cru price tag.

This wine displays a concentrated straw yellow core with slight green and gold reflections on the rim. The classically high-toned nose offers perfumed aromas of apple blossom, lemon curd, lime blossom, acacia and freshly cut bosc pear laced with a touch of hazelnut, white mushroom, a kiss of cream and subtle, well-integrated baking spices over oyster shell minerality in the background. Typical of a vineyard site high on the hill, this wine offers piercing freshness and minerality, but also delivers medium-plus body and ample texture that is more often scene in mid-slope premier cru sites. While this wine is drinking beautifully now and will begin to soften over the next year, its peak should begin in 5-7 from now—although this wine should mature gracefully for decades with proper storage. Many of the white Burgundies from 1979 and 1985 are currently peaking. In other words, Burgundy will test your patience greater than any wine in the world, but they are well worth it in the end. If drinking this wine soon, it is important to give the wine plenty of air, ideally an hour in a decanter, then serve in Burgundy stems at about cellar temperature for best results. Serve with this recipe for Chicken with Morel Mushrooms in Cream and strap in for a great evening.