Les Genevrières

Les Genevrières takes its name from *genévrier* — juniper — recalling the shrubs that once covered this part of the Meursault slope. The vineyard appears in the 19th-century Lavalle classification at the top tier, grouped alongside Les Perrières and Les Charmes as the three premier crus that define Meursault's white-wine identity. In a commune with no Grand Cru, these three sites carry the full weight of Meursault's reputation.

Genevrières divides into two sections — *Dessus* (upper) and *Dessous* (lower) — reflecting subtle differences in soil depth and drainage down the slope. The upper section tends toward firmer structure; the lower toward more generous fruit.

The vineyard sits on the southern flank of Meursault, between Les Perrières to the north and Les Charmes to the south. Limestone-clay soils — less stony than at Perrières — give the wines their characteristic body. The grape is Chardonnay.

Genevrières occupies a middle ground between the two neighbouring sites: it lacks Perrières's cut but surpasses Charmes in mineral tension. The wines carry aromatic lift alongside deep texture — hazelnuts and white flowers in youth, developing toward honey and toasted grain over a decade or more. Bottles often need ten to twenty years to reach full expression.

Domaine des Comtes Lafon holds one of the principal parcels; the cuvée anchors Lafon's white-wine range.

Domaine Coche-Dury produces a minuscule bottling from its parcel — tiny in volume, outsized in demand.

Hospices de Beaune owns one of the larger parcels here, auctioned each November as "Cuvée Philippe le Bon" — among the most familiar Hospices Meursault cuvées internationally.

Maison Louis Jadot, Maison Louis Latour, and Maison Joseph Drouhin each hold parcels. Family estates including Domaine Michelot, Domaine François Mikulski, and Domaine Roulot also work the vineyard.

The Hospices auction gives Les Genevrières one of the highest international profiles of any Meursault premier cru, and Coche-Dury's bottling — however rare — keeps the vineyard in permanent conversation among Burgundy collectors.