Background

The domaine has many old vines planted by Francois’ Grandfather and enviable plots in some of the village’s best vineyards. The sense of pride in the family history is palpable here; Francois showed us a bottle of Pommard 1919, made by his great grandfather, he planned to open at this year’s Paulée.  His wines are characterized by purity of fruit and high-toned minerality, developing lovely length and expression of ‘terroir’.  The wines are fermented and go through Malo in oak, only 20% of which is new. Francois likes to keep the wines in barrique for the first year, then move them to tank. He carries out no bâtonnage in barrique but pumps the fine lees into tank as well as the wine. By gently keeping these in suspension he gets a similar effect to a very gentle bâtonnage and believes the wines add depth and richness during this time.

This feels a good time for Francois and his family. Their domaine, Buisson-Battault, is no longer the insider’s secret it was, known locally as a fine source of Meursault, but little known abroad. His reputation is now growing worldwide, and it is richly deserved.

There are two broad categories of wines here – though of course, being Burgundy, it is easy to find exceptions – those which come from limestone sites, Limozin, 1er Cru Genevrières, and those from soils with more of a clay influence, his Bourgogne Blanc and 1er Cru Charmes. While both terroirs have given excellent wines, in 2018 it seems clear that the influence of the limestone has added another dimension to the wines and they will be longer lived.

Francois gives his wines 12 months in barrel, around 20% new, before moving them to tank along with their fine lees for at least six months. He doesn’t use bâtonnage after fermentation, preferring the slow enrichment that comes with extended lees contact. We have now shipped the wines and they will be available for delivery from early July.

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