Meursault 1er Cru
"Charmes"

RegionCôte de Beaune
VillageMeursault
AppellationMeursault Premier Cru
Grape varietyChardonnay

The Vine

Average vine age 35 years
SoilStony marl, Jurassic limestone.
Average yield40 hl/ha
HarvestHand picked

Wine tips

Cellaring Potential5-7 years
Serving temperature 12-14°

Description

Situated just south of Volnay and Pommard in the Côte de Beaune, Meursault is the most extensive southerly white wine commune of the Côte-d'Or. Surprisingly enough for an appellation of this quality, no Grand Cru exists, however the high quality of the 1er Cru more then compensates for this. The vineyard of Meursault "Charmes" is located just to the south of the village and is recognised to be one of the finest plots producing the Meursault appellation. The well-drained mineral soil is ideally-suited to the type of Chardonnay grown here and the resultant wine is opulent and perfumed with very ripe peach, apple, and nut flavours. A wonderful finish.

Vinification & Ageing

Fermentation
Traditional in oak barrels with complete malolactic fermentation
Ageing
8 to 10 months ageing in oak barrels, 50% new
Barrels
Louis Latour cooperage, French oak, medium toasted

Wine tasting

Tasting Note
The rich bouquet expresses delicate notes of vanilla and the mouth nice aromas of stone fruit. The wine will be fully enjoyed in a couple of years. Tasted in May 2008.
Food Pairing
Vol-au-Vent - rump of veal - freshwater pike - morels - cheese.

Press review

Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2006 - Wine Enthusiast - October 2008 - 93/100
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2006 - Wine Spectator - June 24th, 2008 - 88-91/100
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2006 - Burghound.com - July 2008 - 90/100
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2006 - Jancis Robinson - February 2008 - 15.5/20

Press review

Meursault 1er "Les Charmes" 2018 - Tim Atkin - January 2020 - 92/100
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2018 - Burghound.com - Allen Meadows - June 2020 - 89-91/100
Here the nose is impossible to read as it's completely dominated by sulfur and reduction today. Otherwise there is good volume to the succulent and rounded mediumbodied flavors whose texture contrasts markedly by the dry, serious and somewhat attenuated finish. Note that my projected range implicitly assumes that this will better harmonize in time.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2018 - William Kelley, Wine Advocate (USA) - February 2020 - 90/100
Hints of toasted bread mingling with citrus oil and ripe pear preface the 2018 Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes, a medium to full-bodied, textural and ripe wine that's muscular and enveloping, underpinned by succulent acids and concluding with fine length.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2018 - Bill Nanson - January 2020 - "Bravo!"
A little toast, again, but here the nose is a little more compact at first but slowly becomes more floral. Bright, intense, open, mineral - ooh - where did that come from? Slowly adding detail as you hit the finish - bravo!
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2018 - Jancis Robinson - January 2020 - 16/20
Cask sample. Fresh melon and pear fruit. Richer in the mouth too, creamy pear fruit, leesy texture. A bit abrupt on the finish and a slight clash between the acid and (what I think is) the oak influence. (JH, UK)
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2017 - Burghound.com - USA - June 2019 - 92/100
Meursault Charmes 2014 - Wine Spectator (USA) - December 2016 - 92/100
A plush, honeyed crowd-pleaser, with a core of peach, lemon and apple flavors. Sweet baking spice notes are like the icing on a cake. This cruises to a long finish. Drink now through 2023. - BS
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2013 - James Suckling - June 2015 - 94/100This is really powerful and muscular with so much fruit and phenolic character. One of the best Meursaults I tasted in this vintage so far. Full and exciting. Wow. Drink now.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2013 - Burghound.com - June 2015 - 89/100Hints of hazelnut, citrus and white orchard fruit. There is good volume to the delicious medium weight flavors that possess an attractive mouth feel. (...) By Allen Meadows (USA)
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2013 - Burgundy Report - December 2014 - "Energy and complexity"Ripe, fresh a hint soapy, some flowers and lemon skin - very lovely. Line, length, lithe slowly growing energy in the middle - this needs a few seconds to get into gear, but when it does, watch out. Very super wine with a faint mineral dimension and lots of fine energy and complexity - yum!
Meursault 1er Cru "Les Charmes" 2012 - Burgundy Report - June 2014 - "Simply lovely"Cask sample. Wide and fresh, this is an interesting and inviting nose. I love the intensity here, and despite a little distracting vanilla this has a gorgeous intensity of fresh fruit as its main motif. Simply lovely. - Bill Nanson
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2011 - Wine Spectator - June 2014 - 91/100Verging on viscous, with fine cut, this white evokes apple, peach and melon flavors, revealing touches of citrus and spice. Powerful, this builds through the lingering finish. Best from 2015 through 2023. By Bruce Sanderson (USA)
Meursault "Les Charmes” 2011 - Burghound.com - Allen Meadows (USA) - June 2013 - 91/100There is a lovely mouth feel to the round, supple and enticingly textured medium-bodied flavors that possess slightly better depth on the delicious and balanced finish where a touch of wood surfaces. 2017+
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2010 - Wine Spectator Online - February 2013 - 90/100A round, supple style, boasting apple, lemon and spice flavors. Shows a bit of heat, with a lingering butterscotch and clove aftertaste. Let rest for another year. Best from 2014 through 2022. By Bruce Sanderson, USA.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes” 2009 - Burghound.com - June 2011- 91/100This is riper still and here there are quiet whispers of exotic fruit though no surmaturité to the fresh lemon, mango and apricot infused nose. There is fine richness and impressive volume to the sappy, delicious and mouth coating flavors that possess a suave, even silky texture on the long finish. This is really quite stylish. 2015+. By Allen Meadows (USA).
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2008 - Wine Enthusiast - November 2010 - 91/100A rounded wine, with a counterpoint of apple skin texture, the fruit flavors offering acidity as well as green plums. The texture is plush, velvet, delicious. By Roger Voss, USA.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2008 - Wine Spectator Insider - September 29th 2010 - 91/100Beeswax, lemon oil and baked apple notes are the hallmarks of this powerful white, which is rich and bright, with subtle oak accents interwoven. A little compact on the finish today. Best from 2012 through 2022. By Bruce Sanderson, USA.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2008 - Allen Meadows' Burghound.com - July 2010 - 90/100A highly expressive nose is airy, perfumed and fresh with perfumed aromas that display notes of hazelnut, peach and white pear that complement the attractively generous and relatively forward middle weight flavors that offer solid length and depth on the appealingly textured finish that coats the mouth. 90/2014+
Meursault 1er Cru "Les Charmes" 2007 - Jamie Goode's Wineanorak - April 2010 - 91/100Broad, nutty, minerally nose with nice fruit and hints of nuts and vanilla. The palate is a bit pithy and citrussy with nice density. Savoury and tight. Structured, with some oak evident.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2007 - Wine Spectator Insider - November 2009 - 90/100Broad strokes of apple cake, butterscotch and spice lead off in this powerful white. The racy acidity subdues it on the finish for now. Needs time to integrate. Best from 2011 through 2019. By Bruce Sanderson, USA.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2007 - Burghound.com - July 2009 - 89-91/100Obvious but not really intrusive wood treatment still allows the hazelnut and white peach aromas to express themselves before dissolving into rich, full and very fresh and energetic middle weight flavors that are also quite dry but don't possess the depth of material on the otherwise solidly persistent finish. 2012+
2006 Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes"- Wine Advocate- December 31st 2008- 87-88 points:A 2006 Meursault Charmes is unusually bright and citrus-dominated for the vintage and appellation, not to mention for Latour. Lime with its zest and peach with its fuzz dominate a relatively sparely-textured palate, making this something of an alter ego to the Perrieres or Gouttes d’Or. Clean, bright, and invigorating in finish.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2006 - Wine Enthusiast - October 2008 - 93/100Dense and concentrated,this is certainly a wine for ageing, powered by minerality and taut structure. This is a fine wine, the green fruits and pear flavors surrounding toast and acidity, while vanilla rounds the wine at the end. (USA)
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2006 - Wine Spectator - June 24th, 2008 - 88-91/100Rich and creamy, with lime-tinged honey and spice notes. By Bruce Sanderson (USA).
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2006 - Burghound.com - July 2008 - 90/100A deft touch of wood sets off a fresh and expressive nose dominated by ripe orchard fruit and lemon peel aromas that slide into finer and more elegant still medium-bodied flavors that are round, lush and opulent with a seductive mouth feel and fine length. Compared to the Gouttes d'Or it perhaps lacks a bit of energy but this is still quite attractive. 2010+. By Allen Meadows (USA).
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2006 - Jancis Robinson - February 2008 - 15.5/20Fresh slightly floral spice but then a bit hard and dilute on the palate. Drink 2009-11. (UK)
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2005 - Wine Spectator - August 2007 - 89/100Notes of lemon candy, honey-glazed apple and hazelnut grace this medium-wight white, which is elegant, leaving a mouthwatering impression at the end. Drink now through 2014.
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes” 2005 - Burghound.com - July 2007 - 90/100A subtle background note of pain grillé frames ripe white peach, apricot and pear aromas that also evidence citrus and spice nuances that serve to introduce supple, textured and quite finely detailed flavors that are intense, pure and understated with fine focus and excellent finishing intensity. As Charmes typically performs, save for those that come from the very upper slope of the vineyard, this is on the linear side and finishes with distinct austerity. 2011+
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 2005 - Jancis Robinson - January 2007 - 16/20 Citrus freshness, good ripe fruit. Drink 2008-11.
2004 Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" - Burghound.com - July 2006 - 89 points :Slightly exotic ripe orchard fruit aromas, whose influence continues onto the very round, indeed almost soft flavors that are certainly sweet and delicious. To be sure, this is big, rich and attractive in its fashion and I like the finishing complexity.
2004 Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" - Wine Enthusiast - November 2006 - 91 points :Right amount of opulence. Richness and ripeness. Full bodied and leavened with spicy wood flavors.
2003 Meursault “Charmes” - Burghound.com - October 2005 - 88 points :Compared to all of the prior wines the wood is a good deal more prominent with both oak spice and toast notes framing the very ripe peach and pear aromas, all leading to round, rich and attractively complex medium full and very concentrated flavors and a fresh, moderately long finish. This is woodier than I personally prefer but there is no denying there is a certain appeal here. 88/2006+
2003 Meursault “Charmes” - 2003's Wine Advocate - Issue 158 - 90 Points :Notes of grilled oak and sweet pears can be discerned in the aromatic profile of this premier cru. Lush and sporting gorgeous depth of fruit, this light to medium-bodied wine is packed with oak-laced toasty spices that linger in it’s lengthy finish. Projected maturity: now – 2009.
2002 Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" - Wine Advocate - February 26th, 2004 - 88-90 points :Lovers of oaky Chardonnay will particularly enjoy Louis Latour 2002 Meursault "Charmes". Its smoky, vanilla-laced nose leads to a broad, lush, fleshy, rich, light to medium-bodied character that is packed with oaky minerals. This lush wine reveals a long, expressive finish. It should be drunk over the next 4 years.
2001 Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" - Wine Advocate - April 23rd, 2003 - 87-89 points :The 2001 Meursault-Charmes, a flower and mineral-scented wine, exhibits excellent amplitude, breadth, and balance. Loads of pears and mineral make-up this satin-textured, light to medium-bodied effort's flavor profile. It should be consumed over the next 3-4 years.
1998 Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" - Wine Enthusiast Magazine - November 2000 - 90 points : The biggest of the Latour Meursaults, with extra layers of ripe fruit and nuances of toast and nuts extending into a textured, lengthy finish. Focused and elegant.
1996 Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" - Wine Advocate - April 30th, 1998 - 89-92 points : ‘The Meursault Charmes exhibits sweet white flower and grilled-nut aromas as well as an elegant well-balanced, rich, oily-textured and medium-to-full bodied character. Layers of gravel, flowers, smoke and minerals are found in this complex and beatiful persistent wine.’
Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes" 1995 - Wine Spectator - Aug 1997 - 90/100Smooth; the full Burgundian treatment. Medium- to full-bodied, shows some fried pineapple, toasted coconut notes, and a crisp edge of dried herbs and toast and smoke flavors that give character. Best after 2000. 250 cases made.