Saint-Aubin Blanc 1er Cru, “Les Charmois”

East-facing Les Charmois is an interestingly situated premier cru within Saint-Aubin, lying on a continuation of the main swath of Chassagne-Montrachet adjacent to premier cru Les Chaumées. Sylvain inherited his scant third of a hectare of Les Charmois from his father Jean-Marc, and the vines here—planted in 1990 in extremely stony and poor soils—yield a wine that combines the chiseled vivacity of Saint-Aubin with some of the richness and gravitas of Chassagne-Montrachet. Sylvain employs 350-liter casks, 20% of which are new, in the 16-month élevage, keeping the wine on its fine lees the entire time and never utilizing batonnage. 15 cases imported.