2023 Château de Meursault Meursault 1er Cru Perrières | 96 Point Premier Cru Burgundy

🔥 96 Point Meursault 1er Cru | One of the Greatest Chardonnay Vineyards in Burgundy

Power, limestone minerality and extraordinary precision — magnificent white Burgundy from the legendary Perrières vineyard

Perrières. Hard Jurassic limestone. 55-year-old vines. One of Meursault's greatest Premier Crus.

96 Points – Jasper Morris MW, Inside Burgundy

95 Points – Vinous | 95 Points – The World of Fine Wine | 94 Points – Bettane & Desseauve

🏅 Gold Medal – International Wine Challenge 2025 | Gold Medal – Chardonnay du Monde

Exceptional Premier Cru Meursault | Minerality, Power & Extraordinary Length

“A profound expression of Perrières — concentrated orchard fruit, citrus and stone wrapped around tremendous mineral tension, precision and a finish that just keeps going.”

Critical Acclaim – 2023 Vintage

• 96 Points / 5 Stars – Jasper Morris MW, Inside Burgundy
• 95 Points – Neal Martin, Vinous
• 95 Points – Sarah Marsh, The World of Fine Wine
• 94 Points – Bettane & Desseauve
• 94 Points – VertdeVin
• Gold Medal – International Wine Challenge 2025
• Gold Medal – Chardonnay du Monde

Important rating clarification: the published critic reviews are 96 Inside Burgundy and 95 Vinous, rather than fixed 96 and 95 scores. The Château itself lists the 2023 at 96 from Jasper Morris. 

Perrières – One of the Greatest Premier Crus in Meursault

This is the reason to get excited.

Perrières.

There are Premier Cru vineyards, and then there are sites whose reputations transcend their official classification.

Perrières sits firmly in the latter camp.

For lovers of great white Burgundy, it is one of the benchmark terroirs of Meursault — a vineyard prized for combining the village's natural richness with something altogether more chiselled:

Minerality. Tension. Precision. Length.

Château de Meursault regards Perrières as one of its finest parcels and describes the wine through two words:

Power & Minerality.

That's exactly what makes Perrières so special.

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Brilliant pale yellow-gold with youthful green-gold highlights.

Aroma: Beautifully complex, opening with lemon, citrus blossom, white peach, pear and nectarine, followed by acacia flowers, crushed stone, subtle spice and beautifully integrated oak.

Palate: Powerful yet wonderfully precise. Layers of orchard fruit and citrus build across the palate, but the defining feature is the extraordinary mineral tension and stony precision running underneath. There's weight without heaviness and richness without sacrificing energy.

Finish: Exceptionally long, saline and mineral. Citrus, nectarine and stone continue to reverberate long after the wine leaves the palate.

Jasper Morris found multiple layers waiting to emerge and particularly praised the way the vineyard's stony character gives precision to the weight of fruit. Neal Martin found substantially greater minerality here than in the Château's Charmes-Dessus, with orange pith, nectarine and a finish that continues to tingle after the wine has gone.

The Terroir

Château de Meursault owns approximately:

1.12 hectares

of Perrières.

The parcel sits:

Mid-slope

with an:

East / South-East exposure

on:

Hard Jurassic Limestone.

That hard limestone is fundamental to the personality of Perrières.

This isn't simply rich Meursault.

The limestone provides the wine with a backbone of:

Stone

Salinity

Freshness

Precision

Mineral tension

And that's what separates great Perrières from richer but less mineral expressions of Meursault.

45–55-Year-Old Vines

The Château's Perrières comes from two parcels in Perrières Dessus, with vines approximately:

45 and 55 years old.

Mature Chardonnay vines in a terroir of this quality can deliver tremendous depth without needing excessive ripeness.

And you can see that combination throughout the critical reviews.

There's plenty of fruit.

Plenty of concentration.

But it's the energy and mineral structure that critics keep coming back to.

Vineyard & Winemaking

The wine is:

100% Chardonnay

from Château de Meursault's own Perrières holdings.

After:

Manual sorting

Pressing

and

Settling

the wine undergoes alcoholic fermentation in barrel for approximately:

15 days

before maturation:

On lees for 15–19 months.

For the 2023, Justerini & Brooks reports approximately:

30% new oak.

That's enough to add texture and complexity without obscuring the mineral identity of Perrières.

And that's crucial.

With Chardonnay from a vineyard of this calibre, the terroir needs to remain the star.

Château de Meursault

Château de Meursault is one of the historic names of Burgundy and today possesses an extraordinary collection of vineyards.

Its estate-grown portfolio encompasses:

38 appellations

20 Premier Crus

6 Grand Crus

with its own vineyards farmed organically.

Perrières sits right at the top of its white Burgundy holdings.

And the critical performance of the 2023 shows just how serious the wine has become.

The 2023 Vintage

The combination of concentration and freshness in the best 2023 white Burgundies is particularly exciting.

Here, Perrières appears to have delivered exactly what you'd hope.

Jasper Morris:

96 Points / 5 Stars

Neal Martin:

95 Points

Sarah Marsh:

95 Points

And then:

Two Gold Medals.

That's an impressive degree of agreement from very different judging environments.

Perrières vs Classic Meursault

If your image of Meursault is broad, buttery and heavily oaked Chardonnay, Perrières can completely reset the benchmark.

Yes, there's richness.

But great Perrières is more about:

Citrus

Orchard Fruit

Acacia

Crushed Limestone

Salinity

Tension

Precision

It's Meursault with a mineral spine.

And that's why serious Burgundy drinkers become obsessed with this vineyard.

Food Pairings

• Langoustine carpaccio
• Seared scallops
• Lobster
• Moreton Bay bugs
• Turbot with beurre blanc
• Roast chicken
• Bresse chicken with morels
• Porcini risotto
• Comté
• Truffle dishes

Château de Meursault specifically recommends langoustine carpaccio and Bresse poultry with morels.

Cellaring

This deserves time.

Neal Martin gives the 2023 a drinking window of:

2027–2044.

The Château itself suggests approximately:

12–15 years of cellaring.

At this stage, I'd be inclined to either give it plenty of air or, preferably, put it away.

The mineral structure and concentration suggest this could become seriously impressive with bottle age.

Why We Love It

This is serious white Burgundy.

You're getting:

100% Chardonnay

Meursault Premier Cru

Perrières

Hard Jurassic limestone

45–55-year-old vines

Prime mid-slope position

15–19 months élevage on lees

96 Points – Inside Burgundy

95 Points – Vinous

95 Points – The World of Fine Wine

94 Points – Bettane & Desseauve

Gold – International Wine Challenge 2025

Gold – Chardonnay du Monde

And the RRP?

$365.

It's not inexpensive Chardonnay.

But this isn't ordinary Chardonnay.

It's Perrières — one of the benchmark Premier Cru terroirs of Meursault — from mature vines, in an outstanding release that has attracted serious critical acclaim.

And for anyone who loves Chardonnay with power AND minerality, this is exactly where things get interesting.

Powerful. Mineral. Saline. Precise. Profound.

The 2023 Château de Meursault Meursault 1er Cru Perrières is a magnificent expression of one of Burgundy's great Chardonnay terroirs — combining the depth and generosity of Meursault with the stony tension and extraordinary length that define Perrières.

94–96 Inside Burgundy. 95 World of Fine Wine. Two Gold Medals. Perrières 1er Cru. $365 RRP.

👉 A genuinely serious white Burgundy for the cellar — and one of the standout Chardonnay additions to a premium Burgundy collection.