Meursault Les Narvaux Domaine Boyer-Martenot Chardonnay 2015

The origins of Domaine Yves Boyer-Martenot are very much like Romeo & Juliet; "two households both alike in dignity and grape growing prowess, in fair Burgundy is where we lay our scene." When Yves Boyer, whose mother was from Puligny-Montrachet, met Marie-Cecile Martenot from Meursault they seemed destined to be mortal enemies however they fell madly in love. Sounds pretty familiar, right? There was one fairly sizeable difference however, whereas Romeo & Juliet ended with a plague on both their houses, Yves & Marie simply got married, made some astonishing White Burgundy and their whole family were really rather happy. Not as dramatic as a Mercutio death rattle but the wine is a rather delicious outcome!

After the Second World War André Boyer returned to his home town of Meursault and took over his mother’s family domain that dated back to the turn of the twentieth century. In 1945 André married Juliette Boyer from Puligny-Montrachet and in turn, their son Yves followed in family footsteps and married the daughter of a vigneron from Meursault, Marie-Cécile Martenot. Their son Vincent is now the winemaker of the family domain. The family firmly believes that quality begins in the vineyard and to this end they work the land traditionally, practising lutte raisonnée, carrying out a green harvest and controlling yields. Although not officially organic, their methods are in line with organic controls. The Narvaux vineyard is the highest in Meursault, lending the wines from here an enticing combination of power and finesse. The vineyards are farmed organically, with ploughing between the rows, green harvesting and with no chemical herbicides or fungicides. The yields are low. Harvest is entirely by hand and grapes are sorted in the vineyard before being taken back to the winery.

Vinification is traditional. A pneumatic press is used to gently extract the juice and thermoregulation occurs during fermentation to keep the temperature under control. The wine is aged in one-third new oak for twelve months and the lees stirred and the barrels re-filled once a week. The final wine is rich and opulent, concentrated ripe nectarine fruit alongside notes of acacia flowers. Soft and refined, showing hints of roasted nuts with great depth and a lingering mineral finish. A delicious and elegant Meursault to drink now and over the next 4 years.