Differences between Meursault vs. Puligny Montrachet???

[dcornutt]

@Kim Caldwell

Kramer cont.

Where Meursault can sometimes flop reform excessive fruitiness or Chassagne-Montrachet succumb to softness, the white wine of Puligny is always taut. Green and gold are its colors. High acidity is its trademark. Long life is its prerogative.other wines have all these distinctions, yet none taste quite.ike Puligny.none have that taut bowstring tension of taste.the gout de terroir of Puligny seems somehow more sharply etched than elsewhere. The fruits defined and powerful yet restrained, like the musculature of a martial artist. It’s perfect composition is revealed by its ability to withstand magnification. As you increase the resolution, from commune level to PC and then zoom to Batard-, Chevalier- and Le Montrachet, you find no blemishes, no distortions in taste or balance.

This is excellent! He is such a wordsmith. Too bad this is out of print.

Puligny is about tension and can be difficult to understand at times. Meursault is friendly and easily accessible even Perrieres which can be almost Puligny-like.

[paul_hanna]

@Guillaume Deschamps

@Kim Caldwell

For example…the comparison of Volnay and Pommard… construction worker vs ballerina’s interpretation of Pinot Noir…

Isn’t it the reverse, though?

My expectations when drinking a Puligny is of a vertical, focused, precise wine with tons of minerality, razor sharp, crystal clear. When drinking a Meursault: ample, broad, rich, fat (of course within the context of white burgs, i.e. I always expect acidity, freshness, and some minerality).

Then of course Roulot’s style is quite different.

Exactly.

Produer and vineyard play a big part too…

Roulot’s Perrieres served blind is pretty much always picked as Puligny…perrieres can often also be a finer and more minerally expression of Mersault as a generality.

Young Coche Rougeots with all it’s sulphur has tricked me a few times into thinking Leflaive…

[Ray_Walker]

interesting and helpful responses thus far. I would add that I run into a higher percentage of wines that are notable in their oak expression in Meursault than in Puligny-Montrachet. Also, there is an oiliness that I typically find in Meursaults, especially the more East you travel from the top of the slopes

[Peter_Chiu]

@paul hanna

@Guillaume Deschamps

@Kim Caldwell

For example…the comparison of Volnay and Pommard… construction worker vs ballerina’s interpretation of Pinot Noir…

Isn’t it the reverse, though?

My expectations when drinking a Puligny is of a vertical, focused, precise wine with tons of minerality, razor sharp, crystal clear. When drinking a Meursault: ample, broad, rich, fat (of course within the context of white burgs, i.e. I always expect acidity, freshness, and some minerality).

Then of course Roulot’s style is quite different.

Exactly.

Produer and vineyard play a big part too…

Roulot’s Perrieres served blind is pretty much always picked as Puligny…perrieres can often also be a finer and more minerally expression of Mersault as a generality.

Young Coche Rougeots with all it’s sulphur has tricked me a few times into thinking Leflaive…

Very well said…

[Peter_Chiu]

@Ray Walker

interesting and helpful responses thus far. I would add that I run into a higher percentage of wines that are notable in their oak expression in Meursault than in Puligny-Montrachet. Also, there is an oiliness that I typically find in Meursaults, especially the more East you travel from the top of the slopes

Ray…very sorry to ask : are you producing white ?

[Kim_Caldwell]

@Guillaume Deschamps

@Kim Caldwell

For example…the comparison of Volnay and Pommard… construction worker vs ballerina’s interpretation of Pinot Noir…

Isn’t it the reverse, though?

My expectations when drinking a Puligny is of a vertical, focused, precise wine with tons of minerality, razor sharp, crystal clear. When drinking a Meursault: ample, broad, rich, fat (of course within the context of white burgs, i.e. I always expect acidity, freshness, and some minerality).

Then of course Roulot’s style is quite different.

Yes, of course it is the reverse.

Thank you for the good info.

[paul_hanna]

@Ray Walker

interesting and helpful responses thus far. I would add that I run into a higher percentage of wines that are notable in their oak expression in Meursault than in Puligny-Montrachet. Also, there is an oiliness that I typically find in Meursaults, especially the more East you travel from the top of the slopes

Yeah,

Ray I agree. I reckon I have seen this a few times in Genevrieres…

[Howard_Cooper]

I think of Meursault being easy to drink and kind of puppy dog friendly (although this is not always the case - see the wines of Buisson-Charles which are more restrained and need time to show their stuff). But in general Meurault in broad and round and easy to drink. A bit the style I think of with Bouchard with white wines.

I think of Puligny as being wines that are more rich and powerful with a real inner core of concentration. Very kingly. Kind of the style of wine I think of Jadot in red wines.

I think of Chassagne as really being more the minerally wines. Good acidity. More the Saar of the Cotes du Beaune.

[Ray_Walker]

@Peter Chiu

@Ray Walker

interesting and helpful responses thus far. I would add that I run into a higher percentage of wines that are notable in their oak expression in Meursault than in Puligny-Montrachet. Also, there is an oiliness that I typically find in Meursaults, especially the more East you travel from the top of the slopes

Ray…very sorry to ask : are you producing white ?

As with most things Burgundy, the answer is simple: yes and no.

Cheers

Ray

[Xavier_Lavoipierre]

A very good thread, and folks have nicely summed up the distinctions I find in Meursault and Puligny, but would not have been able to express as eloquently. The Pommard/Volnay comparison (made by a construction worker vs. by a ballerina) was also terrific! Thanks for that one.

[Peter_Chiu]

@Ray Walker

@Peter Chiu

@Ray Walker

interesting and helpful responses thus far. I would add that I run into a higher percentage of wines that are notable in their oak expression in Meursault than in Puligny-Montrachet. Also, there is an oiliness that I typically find in Meursaults, especially the more East you travel from the top of the slopes

Ray…very sorry to ask : are you producing white ?

As with most things Burgundy, the answer is simple: yes and no.

Cheers

Ray

Wish Burgundy is as simple as thing seems to be.

Class will always rule. Time will always tell. Burgundy needs both of them…

[Jeremy_Holmes]

During the week a 2007 Roulot Meursault ‘Tillets’ drank like the various texts describing Puligny would have you believe whilst the 2007 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet next to it had the opulence and exotic notes that are supposed to come from Meursault, producer is the key here.

[Ray_Walker]

sorry to have fun w your question. we unofficially have a pinot blanc from Mazoyeres-Chambertin that we started in 2011. just for fun, not commercial

[Kim_Caldwell]

@Jeremy Holmes

During the week a 2007 Roulot Meursault ‘Tillets’ drank like the various texts describing Puligny would have you believe whilst the 2007 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet next to it had the opulence and exotic notes that are supposed to come from Meursault, producer is the key here.

Jeremy - Drinking Roulot is what prompted this thread.

[M.Kaplan]

When I ordered a Puligny at Passage 53 to accompany our dinner there in October, the host demurred and advised that we drink Chassagne or Mersault, stating that the richer texture and flavors of Mersault and Chassagne better accompany the savory flavors of fall dishes and that the racier, mineral driven flavors of Chablis and Puligny better accompany the fresh flavors of Spring and Summer dishes. He was right, of course, and his description at the time has stayed with me and I will use it as a guideline henceforth.

[drsugarman]

I have a slightly different take here on approaching this … when looking at the Whites of the Cote du Beaune … firstly I would put the GC’s in a separate category for exploration. Thinking of the PC’s and Villages wines I would compare the Monty’s - Puligny & Chassagne to each other and then to Beaune Blanc such as Mouches or Champimont, Savigny les Beaune Blanc and St Aubin (these in particular can be bargains and Pulginy-like IMO)
Exploring Meursault is a subject in itself … Perrieres is very unlike Charmes and Genevieres can be between the two … then there’s the various Villages, Blagny … Guettes d’Or can be a beautiful wine. Lastly Pernand Vergeles and Axote are interesting foils but should be tasted in comparison to the Corton GC Whites IMO.

The usual “generalities” disclaimers apply here:
Puligny - Mineral, generally higher in acid brighter flavors I would peg more toward the Green and White vs. Yellow
Chassagne - richer and more full in texture and more of a Savory note vs tension with flavors more in the Green and yellow spectrum
Meursault - Richer, fruity and generally with a nutty note that seems to pop in at the finish with flavors in the Yellow to Gold spectrum
Beaune blanc - Think between Puligny and Chassagne Mouches in particular can be a great wine
PV and A - Mineral and savory Yellow fruited flavors

I love White Burgundy … enjoy your exploration!

[Mike_During]

@Jeremy Holmes

producer is the key here.

+1.

[Stuart_BeauneHead_Niemtzow]

@Josh Beck

@Kim Caldwell

Peter - At the moment, all the digging is happening in Volnay. I’m lining up a tasting of Caillerets, Clos de Ducs, Clos de Chenes, and Champans. Reading all I can on each. Mapping them out, etc. (Thrilled to be getting the huge Burgundy maps for Xmas). Then a Pommard tasting with Les Epenots and Les Rugiens. ETC.

Working my way through the CdB very methodically…and then heading North!

I would suggest including a Taillepieds in that lineup!

Me, too, as I think in the hands of really good producers of Volnay, it can be as good as any vineyard’s wines, particularly in d’Angerville and deMontille’s cases, I think it might be their best wines in their stables.

[Kim_Caldwell]

@drsugarman

I have a slightly different take here on approaching this … when looking at the Whites of the Cote du Beaune … firstly I would put the GC’s in a separate category for exploration. Thinking of the PC’s and Villages wines I would compare the Monty’s - Puligny & Chassagne to each other and then to Beaune Blanc such as Mouches or Champimont, Savigny les Beaune Blanc and St Aubin (these in particular can be bargains and Pulginy-like IMO)
Exploring Meursault is a subject in itself … Perrieres is very unlike Charmes and Genevieres can be between the two … then there’s the various Villages, Blagny … Guettes d’Or can be a beautiful wine. Lastly Pernand Vergeles and Axote are interesting foils but should be tasted in comparison to the Corton GC Whites IMO.

The usual “generalities” disclaimers apply here:
Puligny - Mineral, generally higher in acid brighter flavors I would peg more toward the Green and White vs. Yellow
Chassagne - richer and more full in texture and more of a Savory note vs tension with flavors more in the Green and yellow spectrum
Meursault - Richer, fruity and generally with a nutty note that seems to pop in at the finish with flavors in the Yellow to Gold spectrum
Beaune blanc - Think between Puligny and Chassagne Mouches in particular can be a great wine
PV and A - Mineral and savory Yellow fruited flavors

I love White Burgundy … enjoy your exploration!

David - Thank you for this roadmap. I think you see exactly where I’m headed- even though I don’t!
Would you mind commenting on CORTON?
Thank you.

[Stuart_BeauneHead_Niemtzow]

@dcornutt

@Kim Caldwell

Kramer cont.

Where Meursault can sometimes flop reform excessive fruitiness or Chassagne-Montrachet succumb to softness, the white wine of Puligny is always taut. Green and gold are its colors. High acidity is its trademark. Long life is its prerogative.other wines have all these distinctions, yet none taste quite.ike Puligny.none have that taut bowstring tension of taste.the gout de terroir of Puligny seems somehow more sharply etched than elsewhere. The fruits defined and powerful yet restrained, like the musculature of a martial artist. It’s perfect composition is revealed by its ability to withstand magnification. As you increase the resolution, from commune level to PC and then zoom to Batard-, Chevalier- and Le Montrachet, you find no blemishes, no distortions in taste or balance.

This is excellent! He is such a wordsmith. Too bad this is out of print.

Puligny is about tension and can be difficult to understand at times. Meursault is friendly and easily accessible even Perrieres which can be almost Puligny-like.

Though I don’t agree totally with Don’s comments on the differences between Meursault and Puligny (particularly the Perrieres, which can be a dead ringer for its adjacent neighbor: the Puligny Combettes in the hands of certain producers, eg, Robert/Michel Ampeau, Roulot even Pierre Morey, there is no way to better describe it than Kramer did. A Puligny from a good producer like Sauzet, Carillon or Leflaive (and maybe others, though I’ve never thought this in any Pernot wine) can put together all one would want in a white wine: including pleasure, both sensual and intellectual. Indeed that “ability to withstand magnification” is its best element. And, those minerally pears…

When someone questions what all the fuss is about in WB, I try to open a Puligny from Sauzet or Carillon…even if they don’t get it, I almost always love the “magnification”, which few Meursaults (though those 3 producers’ Meursault Perrieres come really close) and no Chassagnes can really “withstand”…and no Chablis can…unless someone is a student of that commune and its qualities and limitations.