[SOLD-OUT] Henri Germain et Fils Meursault-Charmes Premier Cru 2013

Andrew Graham 94 points!

“Distinctly Burgundy. This took a while to build, but every time I came back to it, more lobbed up. Definitely the best is yet to come, though its already a delicious wine. Super high quality. All wild ferment, no enzymes and not even any battonage. If the lees are clean it is never racked, 22 months in barrel! Unfined and unfiltered. The primary ferment apparently takes 3-12 months. 20-30% new oak.

This feels much more Burgundian. More grilled nuts, chewy extract and has some pomp and swagger to the palate. Alcohol a notch up here too. Cool and tight, but great length. High quality. Every sip reveals another layer. Superb wine. Best drinking: 2018-2026.”

Andrew Graham, OzWineReviews, September 2017

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While Henri Germain produces a genuinely intense Meursault Charmes, it is invariably tightly wound, retaining a palpable nervosity as it develops. It is, in other words, not your stereotypical example. It’s not fleshy and open but rather tightly wound, linear, deep; racy with chamomile tea, lemon drop fruit and plenty of matchstick reduction. The youngest vines here are 35 years old and the parcel sits right on the cusp of the Puligny demarcation (one key to the finesse on offer) - followers of this wine will attest that in certain years Germain’s Charmes seems to think it is a Puligny. This glistening, super-pure and floral 2013 is one of those years. Great growers teach us that what we think we know about Burgundy may have as much to do with historical, political and economic factors as it does with any reality on the ground. In short, and it may be sacrilege to say so, but a Meursault Charmes can be as great as a Perrières, if it comes from the right part of the vineyard and if the grower has the ‘touch’ and is willing to do the hard work. That’s what we have here—a Charmes every bit as great as this growers Perrières. There, we said it. Bravo, Monsieur Germain.

 

Allen Meadows 91-93 points!
“There is lovely freshness and verve to the solidly concentrated medium weight flavors that are blessed with an abundance of dry extract that imparts a sappy texture to the clean, dry and admirably precise finale. This beautifully well-balanced effort should reward up to a decade of cellaring.”
Allen Meadows, Burghound.com

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Country:

France

Region:

France- Burgundy CotedeBeaune

Variety:

Wine White - Chardonnay

Size:

750mL