Domaine Vincent Latour, previously known as Jean Latour-Labille et Fils, is a family estate with roots in Meursault extending back to 1792, making it one of the oldest continuous wine-producing families in the village. Vincent Latour has been widely recognised as one of Meursault’s finest winemakers since his nomination as winemaker of the year by Bourgogne Aujourd’hui magazine in 2006, a distinction reflecting the quiet revolution in quality he has achieved since taking over the estate in 1998. The domaine’s wines are characterised by a search for ‘sucrosity’ balanced by natural tension, with all Chardonnay pressed whole cluster, settled to remove solids and vinified without lees stirring.

Les Charmes is one of Meursault’s finest and most expansive Premier Cru sites, situated just south of the village and covering both the Charmes-Dessus (upper) and Charmes-Dessous (lower) sub-parcels across approximately 30 hectares. Domaine Vincent Latour holds parcels in both the high and low sections of the vineyard, which are harvested simultaneously and pressed separately before blending, allowing the winemaker to capture the full complexity of the climat across its elevation gradient. The Burgundy-Report, reviewing the 2020 vintage in barrel, described the Charmes as possessing ‘beautiful clarity, ripe lemon, faintly spiced’ character with ‘concentration but also fluidity’ and declared it ‘completely excellent.’

The 2020 Burgundy white vintage was the warmest on record for the Côte de Beaune, producing wines of notable concentration, early approachability and generous stone fruit character, alongside a freshness that the finest producers managed to retain through early harvesting and careful cellar management. Les Charmes from Domaine Vincent Latour is considered among the finest Meursault Charmes productions available, ranking in the top ten by critical consensus. The domaine’s use of larger barrel formats and non-interventionist winemaking philosophy ensures that the character of the Premier Cru terroir is expressed with minimal cosmetic influence.

Golden straw with concentrated aromas of ripe lemon, stone fruit, toasted hazelnut, white flowers and a saline mineral thread from the chalky limestone sub-soils beneath Les Charmes. Full-bodied on the palate with excellent texture, generous stone fruit concentration and a long, polished finish. Drinking well now; best through 2030.

There is excellent vibrancy and delineation to the beautifully textured medium-bodied flavors that brim with both minerality and sappy dry extract that helps to buffer the linear and moderately austere finale. — Allen Meadows Burghound