Meursault 1er cru Charmes 2018

LATOUR-GIRAUD

Meursault 1er cru Charmes
2018

Country
France
Regulated designation
Appellation origine controlée (AOC)
Region
Burgundy
Subregion
Côte de Beaune
Appellation
Meursault
Classification
1er cru
Varietal(s)
Chardonnay 100 %
Colour
White
Producer's website

About this winery

The Latour-Giraud estate has been established in the village of Meursault for many generations. Focused primarily on Meursault, the estate owns an impressive range of Premier Cru and Villages vineyards between 20 and 50+ years old, such as the largest Premier Cru Genevrières vineyard in which two thirds of the vines are more than 50 years old. Latour-Giraud specializes in white burgundy, which accounts for 80% of their production. They own an impressive 2 ha within Mersault, and also have...

See the LATOUR-GIRAUD detail page for more information on this brand

Production notes

Only the free run juice is fermented with wild, natural yeasts in barrels of which 25% is new. The wines are kept on their lees an appropriate time to balance texture and acidity while racking is kept to a minimum. The whites are fined, but not filtered, and bottled by hand. Unlike many producers who bottle all their wines at once, Latour-Giraud carefully monitors each wine and bottles at the optimal time over a 6 month period.

Tasting notes

This is creamy, with toasty aromas as well as ripe pear and quince fruit notes. This wine has a long, toasty finish. Fresh, bright acidity and well balanced. Pair with fois gras or fatty fish and seafoods.

Press reviews

Burghound.com

- 94 points -

June 2016 (Vintage 2014)

(from 35+ year old vines in Charmes Dessus). There is just enough post-bottling reduction present to warrant decanting this if you're tempted to try a bottle of this beauty young. Otherwise there is almost painful intensity to the succulent and dense medium-bodied flavors that exude a subtle minerality onto the sappy, chiseled and hugely long finale. This impeccably balanced effort is also clearly built-to-age and like the Poruzots is going to need it. In short, this is a great Charmes and worthy of your interest.

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Burghound.com

- 93 points -

June 2015

(from 35+ year old vines in Charmes du Haut). This is the first wine to display any appreciable amount of reduction though in this case it’s sufficiently prominent to warrant a good aeration if you’re tempted to crack a bottle in the wine’s youth. On the plus side though there is a lovely freshness and punch to the more refined yet still generous medium-bodied flavors that exude more evident minerality on the layered, textured and mouth coating finish that delivers very fine length as well as excellent depth. This beauty is packed with upside development potential though note well that it is very much of a baby and would best be held for at least 3 to 5 years first.

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Vinous

- 93 points -

Stephen Tanzer, September 2012

Bright pale yellow. Subtle, pure aromas of white peach, lemon, vanilla and minerals. Bright and tight, with lovely acidity giving the wine precision and lightness. Sharply delineated, energetic and firmly structured wine; harmonious already but this is still a baby. A very promising vintage for this cuvee, which Latour believes has been much improved since 2008 and especially 2009. "Previously I focused on the Charles Maxime and the Genevrieres because they were our flagships, and the Charmes was a bit anonymous."

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Vinous

- 92 points -

August 2016

Sexy, subtle aromas of lemon, lime, quinine and ginger; pure and complex. A distinct step up in freshness and precision from the Poruzots, offering terrific thrust to its lemon and spice flavors. Tactile, suave and very long, displaying a compelling combination of sweet fruit and saline minerality. Long on personality--and easier to taste today than the silky but more reserved 2014 version.

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Vinous

- 92 points -

Stephen Tanzer, September 2018 (Vintage 2016)

(35 hectoliters per hectare produced, with some loss of fruit to the frost): Bright medium yellow. Aromas of peach, smoky oak, hazelnut and earth. Offers more carry-through of fruit onto the palate than the village wines, with stone fruit flavors nicely buffering the wine's salty minerality. Good depth and stuffing here, not to mention inner-mouth tension and sappiness. This rather refined 2016 finishes with excellent length and grip. (Incidentally, Latour produced just two barrels apiece of Meursault Bouchères and Poruzots in 2016.)

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Burghound.com

- 90 points -

June 2017

A pretty and attractively layered nose offers up notes that consist primarily of essence of white orchard fruit, citrus and honeysuckle. The succulent yet punchy medium weight flavors possess an opulent mouth feel while delivering fine length on the reasonably well-balanced finish where the only nit is a hint of warmth.

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Vinous

92+ Points

Stephen Tanzer , September 2016 (Vintage 2014)

Pale, bright green. Begins with brisk lemon and lime aromas lifted by a floral topnote, with deeper fresh peach and apricot scents emerging with air. Silky, sweet and classy, offering lovely inner-mouth cut. Finishes sappy, spicy and long, but will need time in the cellar to expand on the back end. Jean-Pierre Latour told me that in recent years he's been trying to raise this wine in tension, purity and class to the level of his Perrières and Genevrières.

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Vinous

(91-94) POINTS

September 2018

(aging in 25% new oak): Pale-medium yellow. Subtly perfumed nose combines lemon drop, nectarine, mirabelle and hazelnut. Strong and sappy but smooth as well, showing lovely fruit intensity and depth. A firm mineral underpinning contributes to the wine's impression of precision and youthful linearity, and its touch of sweetness is perfectly buffered by sound acidity. A very refined, fine-grained, promising Charmes with noteworthy energy and rising length. The crop level here was a reasonable 39 hectoliters per hectare, according to Jean-Pierre Latour.

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Burghound.com

(92-94) points

June 2023 (Vintage 2021)

(from 35+ year old vines in Charmes Dessus). Pungent aromas of wood, reduction and a hint of
phenolic character render the nose unreadable today. More interesting are the dense, powerful and almost painfully intense
larger-scaled flavors that also soak the palate with sappy dry extract that does an excellent job of buffering the firm acid spine
shaping the bone-dry, moderately austere and impressively long finale. This is extremely promising.

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Burghound.com

(90-92) points

Allen Meadows, June 2018 (Vintage 2016)

(from 35+ year old vines in Charmes Dessus). Once again there is a whiff of matchstick to the lightly wooded nose that reflects notes of hazelnut, lemon rind and white orchard fruit. The abundant dry extract imparts a suave mouth feel to the concentrated, powerful and vibrant flavors that culminate in a mildly warm and youthfully austere finale. This too will need at least a few years of cellaring first and reward 6 to 8. 

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Burghound.com

92 Outstanding

June 2019 (Vintage 2017)

A ripe and quite spicy nose offers up notes of honeysuckle, white peach, roasted nut and a hint of acacia. The exceptionally rich, even opulent flavors coat the palate with dry extract before terminating in a clean, intense and discreetly mineral-suffused finale. I really like the sappy, even seductive, texture thanks to the abundant extract and this should age effortlessly.

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Burghound.com

92-94 Points

June 2022 (Vintage 2020)

Moderately firm reduction pushes the ripe underlying fruit to the background today. More interesting are the solidly dense and surprisingly powerful yet refined medium weight flavors that also display impeccably good balance on the lingering finale. This too could use a bit better depth but given the quality of the underlying material, more should almost certainly develop. A classic rendition.

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Burghound.com

(91-94) POINTS

June 2020

A more elegant and very Meursault nose combines notes of hazelnut, pear, acacia blossom and a wisp of petrol. The medium weight flavors are not as dense or powerful, but they are notably finer with a lovely bead of minerality emerging on the focused, long and agreeably dry finale.

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