2022 Armand Heitz Meursault Vireuils
Pairs with: Pan-seared sea bass in a lemon-caper butter sauce, classic roasted chicken with wild chanterelles and cream, buttery salmon en croûte, grilled lobster tail, or a generous plate of nutty, long-aged Comté cheese.
Good for: Completely rewiring the brain of anyone who thinks all Meursault is heavy, flabby, and masked by wood; checking in on a fiercely creative, next-generation Burgundian star; or stashing away in the cellar to let its complex, reduction-tinged structure evolve over the next decade.
Grape: 100% Chardonnay.
I am from: Meursault AOC, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy, France (Sourced from the high-elevation, cooler lieu-dit vineyard of "Les Vireuils").
The Story: To understand Armand Heitz, you have to look beyond the vines. Taking over his family's historic estate (formerly known as Heitz-Lochardet), Armand didn't just want to make wine—he wanted to transform the entire landscape. Today, he runs the property not merely as a vineyard, but as a thriving polycultural ecosystem, integrating a mixed crop-and-livestock farm, permaculture gardens, and agroforestry. By planting trees, maintaining wild hedges, and sewing complex plant covers like clover and mustard, Armand has rejected industrial farming to champion a living, self-sustaining soil matrix.
For this exceptional bottling, Armand looks to "Les Vireuils," a singular lieu-dit perched high up on the upper slopes of Meursault. While the lower plains of the village are famous for producing decadent, heavily extracted styles, Les Vireuils sits near the cooler edges of the appellation, where the topsoil thins out to expose bare marl and chalky limestone. In a hot, sun-drenched growing season like 2022, this high-altitude position was an absolute savior—retaining pristine, mouthwatering acidity while lower vineyards battled intense heat. In the cellar, Armand protects this high-toned tension with absolute transparency: the grapes are gently whole-cluster pressed, fermented with wild native yeasts, and aged in neutral, seasoned French oak barrels to keep the focus entirely on the pure, raw voice of the stone.
Why You'll Love Me: It is bright, texturally luxurious, and beautifully focused—a modern, athletic Meursault that executes a brilliant high-wire act between a silky mouthfeel and intense alpine energy. In the glass, it pours a pale, shimmering yellow-gold with clean emerald highlights. The nose is highly sophisticated and detailed, instantly greeting you with a fragrant bouquet of crisp green apples, white peaches, and lemon pith, beautifully layered with nuances of raw almond, fresh honey, and a distinctive, flinty-smoky mineral undertone. On the palate, it delivers a gorgeous surprise: it hits with a subtle, velvety mid-palate roundness that briefly satisfies your craving for classic white Burgundy richness, only to be immediately swept up by a laser beam of cool-climate acidity. Layers of clean orchard fruit and salty citrus glide effortlessly across the tongue before pulling into a remarkably long, dry finish defined by a mouthwatering, chalky mineral snap.
