Offering up aromas of orange oil, pear, freshly baked bread and clear honey, the 2020 Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes is medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny, with a seamless, enveloping palate animated by lively acids. This elegant Charmes has turned out beautifully.

The 2018 Meursault 1er Cru Les Charmes has turned out well, opening in the glass with notes of citrus zest, pear, white flowers and almond paste. Medium to full-bodied, lively and enveloping, with a fleshy core of fruit and a saline finish, it's a fine effort.

The 2015 Meursault 1er Cru Charmes has a clean, precise and relatively spicy bouquet, not as immediate as other 2015s from Yves Boyer-Martenot, but repaying a minute or two aeration in the glass. The palate is well balanced with good acidity, not as complex as some Meursault Charmes that I have encountered, yet with good tension and a harmonious, white pepper-tinged finish that lingers in the mouth.

The 2013 Meursault 1er Cru Charmes is bridled with an attractive bouquet with delineated scents of apricot blossom, warm gravel and yellow flowers – all very pretty and feminine. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and a keen line of acidity. There is plenty of tension on the finish that bodes well for the future. This is one of Yves’s best 2013s and is worth looking out for.

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.