Albert Grivault – Meursault 1er Cru “Les Perrières” 2023 The closest thing to Montrachet — without the Montrachet price tag. Domaine Albert Grivault is a family enterprise with an illustrious lineage dating back to 1879.  For nearly 150 years, this discreet domaine has stood as the undisputed guardian of Meursault’s greatest terroir. They own the largest overall portion of Meursault Perrières — 2.54 hectares in total — including the legendary Clos des Perrières monopole.  No other estate knows this hillside as intimately. Alexis Lichine wrote: “In Meursault, les Perrières is the best vineyard plot, and the wine from the heart of this cru, the Clos des Perrières, stands up to the incomparable Montrachet.”  The Perrières 1er Cru, sourced from two parcels immediately adjacent to that monopole, shares the very same soul. The 2023 is a wine of precision and quiet majesty. The bouquet seems to expand in the glass: apricot and peach skin meet a touch of melted candle wax, all beautifully defined. On the palate it is medium-bodied with fine minerality, fresh and focused, steadily gaining weight toward the finish.  Bill Nanson of the Burgundy Report adds: “More mineral and floral aromatics — generous but not too rich, with a mineral freshness that spreads wide over the palate. Long and fading with just a faint caramel today.”  The winemaking is impeccably traditional: whole cluster pressed, fermented in primarily used casks, no sulphur until after malolactic fermentation, and absolutely no bâtonnage — a formula that consistently produces marvellous results at this address.  One enduring client who has bought Perrières from Grivault for decades is none other than Lalou Bize-Leroy  — arguably the most exacting palate in all of Burgundy. That alone speaks volumes. 2023 is a beautifully fresh, aromatic vintage for white Burgundy — delivering elegance and definition over brute power, ideal for a wine of this finesse and lineage. Drink from 2027, and cellar with full confidence through 2040 and beyond. A rare opportunity from one of the Côte de Beaune’s most important and undersung estates. Act quickly — production is tiny and demand is growing fast.