Meursault 1er cru Charmes 2023 Domaine François Mikulski

The Meursault 1er Cru Charmes 2023 from Domaine François Mikulski is certainly the most luscious, most sensual and most immediately seductive wine in the range, the archetype of Meursault in all its splendour, such as lovers the world over dream of it. The Charmes form the most characteristic and most defining climat of Meursault, and François Mikulski's cuvée is one of its most accomplished and most distinguished expressions to be found anywhere. Only 3,700 bottles produced annually, fought over by cavistes and lovers in every corner of the world.

The terroir of the Charmes

The Premier Cru Les Charmes represents the largest surface area among Meursault's Premier Crus, some 30 hectares situated south-west of the Genevrières and below the Perrières, at the boundary of the Puligny-Montrachet appellation. It is the most southerly, most sunny and most generous climat in the hierarchy, one that great connoisseurs unanimously describe as the most glyceric, most oily and most opulent of Meursault, that whose sensuality and hedonism assert themselves without effort. The subsoil is composed of a foundation of platy limestone rocks upon which rests a rich silty soil, a profile that confers upon Chardonnay its prodigious sap, its natural fatness and that pastry-like, buttery character so characteristic of the Charmes. At François Mikulski, the cuvée is a precise and calculated blend of two generations of vines: very old vines planted in the 1930s on the Charmes-Dessous, whose roots plunge deeply into the bedrock and bring rare concentration, minerality and tension, and younger vines whose generous fruit brightness nourishes the roundness and gourmandise of the whole. It is this complementarity between mineral depth and fruity generosity that makes the singularity and distinction of this Charmes compared to those of its neighbours.

Tasting profile

The colour is luminous gold with golden highlights, brilliant and dense, characteristic of a sunny and generous terroir. The nose is one of immediate richness and seduction that asserts itself from the moment the bottle opens: notes of mimosa honey and white flowers, lilac, violet, carnation, intertwine with aromas of white truffle, fresh mushrooms, poached white fruits and candied fruits, before pastry-like accents emerge, characteristic of the climat, Madeleines, mille-feuille, crème brûlée, praline, and sweet spices of nutmeg, cinnamon and bergamot. With aeration, a burst of citrus, lemon, grapefruit, mandarin, kumquat, illuminates the bouquet and brings a freshness that beautifully balances the richness and opulence of the terroir. On the palate, sensuality is the first sensation: the material is full, generous and silky, of a glyceric and enveloping texture that is the absolute signature of the Charmes. The subtle empyreumatic character of the terroir, toasted and slightly smoky note, ignites the fruit and brings complexity. The finish is long, powerful and concentrated, of a persistence and depth that signal a cellaring potential of eight to fifteen years minimum. A wine resolutely yang in the Mikulski range, to be decanted at length in its youth.

The domaine

François Mikulski founded his domaine at Meursault with his wife Marie-Pierre in 1991, first vintage in 1992. A quiet giant of the Côte de Beaune, he has built in more than thirty years one of the most respected and most sought-after domaines in the Burgundy vineyard, universally recognised for its Meursault in four Premier Crus. Today, his son-in-law Thomas Boccon leads the domaine alongside him, perpetuating with the same care and the same conviction this path of excellence. The philosophy is constant and unwavering: the choice of authenticity and purity, with little new oak, only 20 percent for this Charmes, in order to preserve to the maximum the identity of the terroir and to prevent the ageing from masking what the earth has to say.

Food pairing

This Meursault 1er Cru Charmes is a wine of high gastronomy that calls for the most refined tables. It will pair sublimely with wild turbot roasted in brown butter, lobster with morel cream, grilled langoustines with rare pepper, braised veal sweetbread with wild mushrooms or Bresse chicken with cream and ceps. Its characteristic richness and empyreumatic notes make it also an ideal companion to tender white meats and umami flavours. Served between 12 and 14 °C with decanting of 30 to 45 minutes advised in its youth, it will progressively reveal all the sensuality and depth of one of the greatest Premier Crus of Meursault.