Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Reminiscent of candy in a glass, this is harmonious and creamy in texture, exhibiting peach, apple and grapefruit flavors that are framed by notes of butter and spice. This vivid style firms up on the finish, boding well for future development. Best from 2015 through 2023. 6 cases imported.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tasted blind at the Burgundy 2011 horizontal tasting in Beaune. Faiveley’s Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 2011 has a more austere bouquet, but it is very focused with an underlying minerality that should uncoil with bottle age. The palate is very well balanced with crisp acidity. This is very harmonious and unassuming; the oak a little obvious at present, but it will knit together over the next ten years. This is a very classy Meursault Charmes.
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.