Winemaker Notes
Generous, charming nose featuring notes of candied lemon, almonds, white flowers, spices and freshly baked bread. Complex and full bodied on the palate, with a slight mineral tautness that lends this wine perfect balance. Long, delectable finish with accents of brioche and spices.
Taste this wine with finely prepared fine fish and crustaceans, or with poultry and white meats, roasted or served in a cream sauce.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An opulent, silky and layered wine, rather full-bodied and broad on the palate, with rich poached pear, vanilla bean and toast nuances building as you sip and lingering in the finish. Balanced by a nicely tart citrus touch that keeps you coming back for more sips. From organically grown grapes. Drinkable now, but best from 2028.
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Decanter
The initial attack of the Meursault Charmes from Domaine du Pavillon is rich with aromas of ripe apple and peach with hints of flowers, butter, and hazelnut. On the palate, the richness continues with a delightful depth. The wine, however, is not heavy since it is balanced by fresh acidity and an almost tannic tactile sense that makes the wine 'chewy' and helps propel it to an elegantly lingering finish. The grapes are from three parcels that total 1.17 hectares; two are in Charmes Dessus, and a small one is in Charmes Dessous.
Barrel Sample: 94 -
Jasper Morris
Fresh bright yellow. Very Charmes on the nose and here the oaking absolutely matches the wine. Very intense, adequate power, a little biscuit touch, enough acidity, and a clarity in the fruit profile. Weight, length, charm, all that we expect. Drink from 2029-2035.
Barrel Sample: 92-93 -
Wine Spectator
This ripe version sports peach, apricot and orange flavors, offering a flash of toasty oak. Succulent and supple in texture, this is charming, open and fluid, with mouthwatering acidity gracing the lingering aftertaste. Drink now through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Notes of buttery orchard fruit, white flowers and fresh pastry introduce the 2022 Meursault 1er Cru Charmes, a medium to full-bodied, broad and rich wine with a satiny attack that segues into a fleshy core of fruit, concluding with a succulent finish.
Barrel Sample: 90-91
Since 1350, the Bichot family has called Burgundy home. But, it was in 1831 that Bernard Bichot founded a merchant house bearing his name in Monthélie, a couple of kilometers south of Beaune. At the end of the 19th century, his grandson Albert Bichot took the family business into a new direction and created the winery, Maison Albert Bichot as we know it. The family heritage has been perpetuated from father to son since then. The family crest, consisting of a deer and antlers, has been synonymous with the winery since its inception.
Since 1996, Albéric Bichot has represented the 6th generation managing the winery. The winery’s mission is to utilize the best fruit possible to create the best wine and best expression of terroir. In the constant pursuit of accomplishing this mission, Albert Bichot has acquired 250 acres of vineyards in the most reputed growing areas throughout Burgundy. In addition to this expertise as a wine-grower, Albert Bichot carefully sources grapes with an extremely hands-on approach, in order to vinify many of its regional and village wines, enabling them to supply high quality wines with continuity. For these grapes sourced from our partner growers, quality, and a close partnership, are of the utmost importance.
Albert Bichot owns 6 Domaines set at the heart of 5 great vinicultural regions that make up Burgundy: Chablis, Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune, Cote Chalonnaise, and Beaujolais. Each estate consists of vineyards cultivated with sustainable practices, as well as facilities, cellars and dedicated winemaking teams devoted to wines of that Domaine and region.
The 6 estates include:
- Domaine Long-Depaquit in Chablis
- Chateau Gris in the Cote de Nuits (Nuits-St.-Georges)
- Domaine du Clos-Frantin in the Cote de Nuits (Nuits-St.-Georges)
- Domaine du Pavillon in the Cote de Beaune (Pommard)
- Domaine Adelie in the Cote Chalonnaise (Mercurey)
- Domaine du Rochegres in Beaujolais (Moulin-à-Vent)
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
Known to offer a magical balance of smoothness and freshness, Meursault's quality is hard to rival. The village lies in the middle of Côte de Beaune, just south of Volnay. Meursault is said to mean “mouse’s jump” because in the past the plots producing Pinot Noir and those producing Chardonnay were no more than a mouse’s jump from one another. Today the village is almost exclusively Chardonnay. A tiny bit of Pinot Noir is produced here with the best coming from Les Santenots on its northern side near Volnay.
While there are no Grands Crus, Meursault’s numerous acclaimed Premiers Crus can compete with any other top-notch white Burgundy. Some to know are Les Perrières, Les Genevrières, Les Charmes, Le Poruzot, Les Bouchères and Les Gouttes d’Or.
Meursault produces outstanding village level wines as well. In general great Premiers Crus and even village level Meursault (Chardonnay) have enticing aromas of lime peel, tropical fruit, crushed rocks, spice and hazelnut. On the palate there is a wonderful balance of brightness and a seductive length with flavors of white peach, pineapple and citrus.