Jean-Marc Roulot ( Meursault ): "Some winemakers are too impatient"

Q: Thirty years ago…

R: This was my 5th vintage. My father died in 1982 and I took over the domaine In January 1989. Then came 1989, 1990—sunny years, 1991 a bit more challenging, and then 1992, which I loved. The wines were balanced, without excess, with a beautiful expression of the terroir. I had beginner's luck.

Q: Did it take you some time to find your feet?

R: Ten or twelve years… I'm not saying it was to be sure of myself, but to be comfortable. My friends helped me, Dominique Lafon, Emmanuel Giboulot… but there wasn't a father-son handover, and ten or twelve years is the time it takes to better understand the diversity of soils, the variability of vintages, to better assert one's choices, and a lot happened in the vineyard and in the cellar. Intuitively, I started removing several products from my treatment schedule, and I realized in 2000 that I was actually organic. The domaine It was only certified in 2013

Q: And in the cellar?

R: The major development, which consisted of extending the aging period for white wines from twelve to eighteen months, eleven in barrels and six to eight in tanks, took place in the early years; it stemmed from an "accident" on the Meursault Perrières In 1993, I was forced to leave it in the vat for another winter, and when I tasted my '93s, the Perrières was far above the rest. As early as 1995, Charmes, Tessons and Perrières were raised for eighteen months, all the Meursault in '96, Burgundy blanc from 2007. The base is still the same today, with of course adjustments depending on the year and the vintages.

Q: And since then?

R: We have made progress in the precision of vineyard work: spraying equipment, pruning, adjusting soil cultivation tools, and maintaining plant material. My father planted a lot in the 1950s and 60s, in massale I inherited some rather old, high-quality vines, and preserving these old vines is a very important matter. It's the essence of... domaine and the quality of its wines. In the cellar and winery, we use less new oak, the presses are better suited, especially for very small quantities, like those we had to manage in 2021, and the same goes for the closed, single- or double-unit tanks, which help us a great deal…

Q: The question Maturity remains very sensitive in chardonnay and particularly to Meursault …

R: We've been labeled as people who harvest very early. While we were among the first to harvest, that's no longer true at all. Who has changed, the others, or us? Probably a bit of both, and tasting the berries is the only criterion that determines the harvest date. We all have a target sugar level in mind, but some years you have to go earlier, and other years you have to wait. The climate also changes how we approach ripeness. Thirty years ago, we harvested in mid- to late September, with cooler conditions, and the window of opportunity was much wider. Today, when you find yourself in the vineyards on August 20th with 35 degrees Celsius in the shade, one more or less day can make a big difference.

Q: Isn't this climate change ultimately the most significant event of the last 30 years?

R: It's a big issue, and as things stand, it hasn't prevented us from producing some very fine, balanced vintages. I'm more concerned about the more severe weather events we're experiencing now than before. We'll have to work on adapting to this new climate, both in the vineyard and in the cellar. We'll need to work on our training methods, the plant material, and the containers in the cellar. We've been using stoneware jars since 2018, which produce wines that are less complex than those aged in barrels, but more focused and vibrant. I like to vary the containers: primarily wood, with stoneware and ceramic at the beginning of the aging process, and stainless steel at the end.

Q: The image of Burgundy has changed a lot in 30 years, the "starification" of certain estates, including yours, the prices of wines, land, is all this a burden?

R: I was lucky enough to arrive at a time when things were much more "softer". During the ten or fifteen years following my arrival... Domaine Roulot didn't have the reputation he has today, and that didn't bother me at all. Today, I find some winemakers too impatient. I don't understand, for example, the need to publish their tasting notes on social media. If Burgundy is strong, it's because before us, people (François) Faiveley Hubert de Montille, among others, fought to keep Burgundy free, to allow it to continue making terroir-driven, estate-driven wines, never bowing to trends. Parker came to Burgundy, but the die was not cast. Posting one's scores on Instagram today means submitting to a system we broke free from in the 1990s.

Q: And what can we expect from the next thirty years?

A: Contractors are everywhere in the vineyards these days; some do good work, but delegating has its limits, and if you want to do quality work, you have to maintain control over the vines. We often hear the argument that "people don't want to do anything anymore," but that's a bit simplistic. Owners will have to motivate their teams to make working in the vineyards attractive, otherwise the future will be difficult.

Photographs: Thierry Gaudillère

The tasting

Meursault village blanc Vireuils 1999

Note that the domaine preferred to start the tasting with the oldest vintage. The wine is still incredibly youthful, with a color that shows little evolution, a fresh nose of citrus, toast, and spices… A generous, invigorating, vibrant, and complex palate. “There was a good yield, and it was very good. I would like to make another 1999 vintage. We are constantly striving to do better, and today two cuvées of Vireuils are vinified separately. The best goes into the cuvée one parcel and the other in the meursault "assembly," explains Jean-Marc Roulot.

Meursault village blanc Meix Chavaux 2004

“In 2004, which isn’t the greatest vintage of the last thirty years, all the Chardonnays were sorted on a sorting table, and we made three passes through some vineyards to harvest at the right time,” explains Jean-Marc Roulot. The nose is fresh, without the classic hallmarks (vegetal notes, asparagus…) of 2004, but instead aromas of fennel, menthol, and a touch of exotic fruit linked to botrytis . The palate is juicy, fruity, lemony, and delicious, with a lovely saline finish.

Meursault village blanc The Shards Clos of My Pleasure 2007

Brilliant, golden-green robe. Precise, fine, fresh aromas, perfectly youthful. 2007 is not a legendary vintage, far from it, so the wine doesn't have the depth of the great years, but the whole is harmonious, refined, with substance, richness, a fine saline minerality, a beautiful length and still potential.

Meursault village blanc Luchets 2009

The wine is still young, precise, with the year's sunshine expressed in aromas of yellow fruit, candied citrus, and spices… A rich, full, generous, vibrant, and saline palate… promising! A vintage that inspires Jean-Marc Roulot to reflect on… wine prices. “We'll have to ask ourselves which customers to target in the future, those who drink wine or those who collect it, but everyone will have to play their part, especially restaurateurs.”

Meursault premier cru blanc Clos des Bouchères 2015

“Two vintages immediately come to mind when we talk about climate change: 2015 and 2019,” asserts Jean-Marc Roulot. The nose is pure and fresh, showing no signs of evolution, gradually revealing discreet notes of yellow fruit and sweet flowers. The palate is full and rich, fruit-forward, and with aeration, the wine expands, refines, and develops, all while retaining the identity of its vintage, its terroir, and its youthful character.

Meursault premier cru blanc The Charms 2020

This is the earliest harvest since Jean-Marc Roulot took over, between August 20th and 29th. The nose is still reserved, lemony, fresh, and pure. The wine is vibrant, pure, elegant, with body and a lovely length. This is just the beginning of a long story…

Meursault premier cru blanc THE Perrières 2022

From a vineyard planted in the early 1960s, the wine has tremendous depth, is typical, with its saline minerality mixed with the richness of the palate, its purity, its length and enormous potential.

Christophe TUPINIER

Publishing Director