Buisson-Battault
Among Meursault producers, Domaine Buisson-Battault is an insider’s choice.
The handsome house in the heart of Meursault is both winery and home to current proprietor, the genial François Buisson, whose antecedents have farmed vineyards here for at least five generations.
The domaine produces 14 different appellations from a total of 8.5 hectares (19 acres) of organically farmed vineyards. The wines combine the easy-going fruit of Meursault with an irresistible mineral and acid drive. The domaine is a source of chiselled, pure wines that capture their terroir beautifully.
Right: François Buisson and wife Fréderique in their traditional stone cellar, October 2024
The Wines
2022 was a lovely vintage for white Burgundy wines, producing good quantity and quality in a classic Burgundian style of freshness and elegance. It marked a strong contrast to recent hot vintages such as 2018, 2019 and 2020, that produced denser wines.
Bourgogne Aligoté 2022 Tech Sheet | Label
Bourgogne Côte d’Or Chardonnay 2022 Tech Sheet | Label
Meursault Vieilles Vignes 2022 Tech Sheet | Label
Meursault Les Criots 2022 Tech Sheet | Label
Meursault Premier Cru Porusots 2022 Tech Sheet | Label
The Bourgogne Côte d’Or is sourced from three plots around the village of Meursault. The Meursault Vieilles Vignes is produced from 40-80 year old vines from three Meursault lieux dits and offers enough creamy texture to satisfy any Meursault lover, although it is beautifully offset by the zesty acidity. Criots is a single rocky lieu dit, with limited top soil. This tends to give a more energetic style of wine than the Vieilles Vignes. Finally the Porusots is a structured white grown on a site with high stone/rock content in the soils. ‘Power without weight,’ is François’ apposite way of describing the wine.
Francois’ watchword for his wines is balance. On the one hand he dislikes the old-school, creamy, nutty style of Meursault. On the other, he distrusts highly reductive, early-harvested wines. For him, yield management (especially through bud removal in May, rather than by green harvest) and harvest date are the crucial moments during the growing season. Managing both correctly ensures wines with an attractive balance between fruit concentration and fresh acidity.
In the winery, François browns the must prior to fermentation as a precaution against subsequent oxidation. Fermentation and 12 months ageing is carried out in barrique (20% new, medium toast, for village level and above), with the wine remaining on its gross lees during this time. Importantly, he does not perform batonnage, considering the process too oxidative. In another reductive step, after oak maturation, the wine moves to stainless steel tanks for six months, resting on its fine lees during this period. Bottling is under natural cork for all the Chardonnay wines; François states he likes the natural evolution that natural cork permits.
The wine style makes perfect sense after you read that technical description. These are wines poised at the very mid point of the various Meursault styles available; neither lean and austere nor opulent and soft; the vibrant acidity almost surprising in its underpinning of the supple fruit. These are modern, clean, bright wines that, thanks to the purity of expression, do a wonderful in capturing the specificity of each site.
