"1er Cru level. Easy." - J-F Coche-Dury

One of Burgundy's smallest Domaines, with just 1.5 hectares of vines, Domaine Berlancourt, based in Meursault, was founded in 2008. Adrien Berlancourt, who was just 20 years old in 2008, had just finished a stint working at Etienne Sauzet, having previously been an intern at Domaine Trapet.
 
Adrien’s father was a highly regarded sommelier, and is very good friends with Jean-Francois Coche Dury and ex-DRC winemaker Bernard Noblet. Both of these Burgundy legends visit the domaine twice a year to taste, always with great enthusiasm, and to offer their advice on the wines. Coche-Dury has himself said that all of the wines are of at least 1er Cru quality. If that wasn’t enough, Adrien himself is very good friends with the team at Domaine des Comtes Lafon who have regularly helped him with his winemaking.
 
From separate plots across their tiny holdings of just 1.5 hectares, four wines are bottled as Bourgogne Blanc, alongside a Bourgogne Aligote and a Bourgogne Rouge (from vines which are often used to make a Bourgogne Rose). Three wines - Les Equinces, La Demoiselle and Les Champans are from grapes grown in Puligny Montrachet, whilst Derriere Fretille is from Pernand Vergelesses - think of it as their version of a Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru, alongside three Puligny 1er or even Grand Cru quality wines.

The vines are farmed 100% organically and they have been trying out biodynamics in the La Demoiselle vineyard, although Adrien has no interest in attaining certification due to the size of the domaine. All the work in the vineyard is done by hand. In the cellar, Adrien uses as little sulphur as possible, indigenous yeasts, no lees stirring, fermentation and ageing in new oak up to 3 years old, and each cuvee spends 18-20 months in wood before bottling. No wines are ever chaptalized. Yields are intentionally low in order to make the best wine from the limited holdings – only up to 35 hectolitres per hectare, whilst the maximum permitted in Bourgogne Blanc is nearly twice that, at 68.

Very few producers put this much effort into a Bourgogne and achieve such stunning results - think perhaps Roulot, Arnaud Ente, Leroy, or Coche Dury himself, and Berlancourt is truly up there with the greats.
 
Only around 300-400 cases are produced annually, and the vast majority sees its way onto the lists of Michelin starred restaurants across Europe, so, as always, I have only extremely limited quantities to offer.