domaine Michel Bouzereau et Fils

The Bouzereau family has settled down in Meursault and has been cultivating vine for seven generations.

As time went by and thanks to his profound involvement, Michel managed to expand the family vineyards inherited from his father. His son Jean-Baptiste joined him twenty years later. He learnt the craft with his father for about ten years, and then they purchased together some new prestigious vineyards.
In 1999, Michel entrusted the whole management of the family vineyard to Jean-Baptiste who has been running the 10.5 hectares domain. Since then, he has implemented a series of changes to the winemaking processes previously instigated by his father, including a reduction in battonage. In 2008, still anxious to improve the quality of his wines, he decided to build a new structure.

SEVEN GENERATIONS OF PASSION

Michel Bouzereau is a man of great sway in Burgundy. He’s both head of the Bouzereau clan as well as President of the prestigious Burgundy Growers’ Union. There is undoubtedly quite a shadow for his son Jean-Baptiste to have stepped into. However, Jean-Baptiste has forged his own way, combining his father's traditionalist philosophy with a fresher style. The result are expressive wines from his eleven hectares of vines in Meursault and Puligny.

Cultivation

We are deeply convinced that good wine can only be made with high quality grapes, that’s for sure.
Once this has been stated, everything is done to obtain a healthy and tasty fruit: a good soil keeping, a short pruning, a severe disbudement and the use of natural products are fundamental assets.
Vineyards in Burgundy are, as we know, particularly parceled; therefore it is very important to monitor carefully each activity and also to examine regularly the various soils in order to harvest perfectly ripe grapes. In these conditions, we will obtain mellow, precise and perfectly balanced wines.

Winemaking

Harvesting is completely handmade in order to respect grapes as much as possible.
White grapes are slowly pressed. On the following day, after a delicate settling, the juice is transferred to barrels. Primary fermentation starts then into the cellar. Once the malo-lactic conversion is completed, wines keep on maturing with their own sediments until the next harvest, at that point they will complete their aging into barrels or in tanks, according to their appellation. The last step is the bottling which takes place between November and March, according to lunar cycles.
On the other hand red wines are stalked and go through a maceration in the cold state. Fermentation is done without yeast addition. Wines will then slowly mellow in oak barrels for about twelve to sixteen months.

Jean-Baptiste has respected his father's more traditionalist practices but he has instilled a fresher, livelier element to the wines which only enhances their appeal. These wines offer very good value for money and are benchmark examples for each of the crus. They can also age better than could be expected. The whites of this domaine are those most likely to be singled out, with perhaps the Premier Cru of Les Genevrières being the finest.
Their Bourgogne Blanc comes from vineyards which are within the boundaries of Meursault but just outside the appellation. Such generic Burgundies are excellent choices for good value, especially as this wine is treated with the same care, attention and barrel ageing as its more senior brethren.

Once in the winery, the idea is to intervene as little as possible in the vinification and maturation. The whites – representing the vast majority of the domain’s wines – are pressed and put into casks the following day. The yeasts are indigenous, and the alcoholic fermentation is long, taking place in the cellar. After malolactic fermentation, the wines remain on lees until the next harvest, before finishing their maturation in barrels or vats. Now that he has more space in his winery, Jean-Baptiste can follow each of his cuvées carefully, changing the rhythm of his work when needs be. As for the reds, the grapes are destemmed and undergo a cold maceration. After fermentation, the wine is matured for 12-16 months in oak barrels. Throughout these processes, it isn’t tradition that guides, but observation. All of the work is carried out gently and intelligently, depending on the characteristics of each vintage and each terroir.

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