2012 Domaine Boyer-Martenot Meursault Les Charmes 1er Cru

The 2012 Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes comes from three different parcels. It seems closed on the nose at the moment, but there are attractive flint and smoke scents that emerge with aeration. The palate is well-balanced with a feisty, spicy opening: hints of marmalade and mandarin that dovetail into a boisterous, intense, orange zest finish. This is like watching a shy boy lose all his inhibitions – the more you become acquainted, the more it lets go. Drink 2015-2028. It was my first time visiting this domaine and young winemaker Vincent Boyer. Their winery is situated in the lower reaches of the hilly Meursault village. Their set up is one whereby tourists are welcomed to visit the cellars and purchase bottles directly. That is often interpreted as a sign of more commercial wines for less discerning tourists, after all, you never see Aubert de Villaine beckoning visitors inside. Do not make that mistake here. I was impressed by both the estate’s enviable portfolio of holdings scattered over 10 hectares in Meursault, Puligny, Auxey-Duresses and Pommard, and Vincent’s assiduous approach to winemaking. If anything, his 2012 whites are so vibrant and surfeit with minerality that it exaggerated what I found lacking in the small number his reds, even if they are peripheral within Yves’ portfolio. The holdings were accumulated by Vincent’s ancestors on both his paternal and maternal lineages, hence the hyphenated name. It was the marriage of Andre Boyer to Juliette Deveze that linked Meursault with Puligny respectively. Then their son Yves was married to Marie Cecile Martenot in 1976. Between 1997 and 2007 the domaine has discretely acquired further holdings. Yves has a simple approach to winemaking. He uses new oak thoughtfully, so that it is embedded and frequently barely noticeable within his wines, thereby allowing the terroir to be articulated. He bottles relatively early. His 2012 whites had all been bottled when I tasted them in October, 2013, though Vincent expressed a desire to extend the barrel aging if space permits. Then again, judging by the performance of these wines, I am not totally convinced that is entirely necessary. Vincent Boyer’s premier crus are all matured in a judicious one-third new oak. The reds are not exported to the United States. Importer: Michael Skurnik, Peter Vezan.

(from a crop level below 20 hectoliters per hectare, noted Boyer, who said this wine still has a bit of residual sugar, while the rest of his 2012s are quite dry): Musky aromas of lemon, toast and hazelnut, with a sexy sulfidey quality. Fat, rich and very sweet, conveying an impression of strong extract. This impressively glyceral, tactile wine really spreads out to saturate the palate. Finishes chewy, lightly saline and long. Today it's hard to see this wine's ultimate shape but there's terrific material here.