Henri Germain Bourgogne Blanc Cote D’Or 2023

In marked contrast to so many other farmers on the Côte de Beaune, who hedged their vines so aggressively that nearly every vintage required chaptalization to make up for the delayed ripening, Jean-François Germain preferred to let the canopies flourish and work twice as hard to manage them. And when the impeccable, phenolically ripe fruit hit Germain’s frigid cellar, where fermentation progressed at a glacial pace, the results were revelatory. So they remain today at this domaine, where Henri Germain began estate-bottling a small parcel in Meursault Charmes in 1973. The holdings expanded when Henri married Paulette Pillot, who’d inherited vineyards in Chassagne-Montrachet, including an exceptional Premier Cru parcel in the sub-climat of Fairendes in Morgeot. In time the reins passed to their son Jean-François, whose marriage to Sophie Jobard (another important Meursault name) brought a large Premier Cru plot in Meursault-Poruzot.