Remoissenet Père et Fils, Meursault 1er Cru “Les Cras”
There is no “comparatively speaking” here: Bottlings of Meursault Premier Cru “Les Cras” are rare, plain and simple, and finding one of Remoissenet’s is an even harder undertaking. If you’re at all interested in obtaining peak (quite literally) Premier Cru Burgundy, do not hesitate on this rarefied gem. I say ‘literally’ because “Les Cras” is high up there at 780 feet, located near the highest altitudes in the northern stretches of Meursault.
This steep, tiny, craggy site is dominated by limestone and contiguously runs into Volnay, one of Burgundy’s epicenters for elite Pinot Noir. In fact, Pinot Noir long dominated this Premier Cru until some wisened minds planted Chardonnay many decades ago. Now, the few estates that do bottle white “Les Cras” emerge with some extraordinary, and extraordinarily limited, wines.
In 2020, Remoissenet called upon their extensive Rolodex of contacts to purchase Les Cras fruit from a couple of small plots farmed by two organic-minded growers. In the cellar, the grapes were gently pressed full cluster into 228- and 342-liter French barrels, 50% new. Following a spontaneous fermentation with natural yeasts, the resulting wine then aged for a lengthy period in these barrels until bottling.