Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes | 1.71 Hectares in Charmes du Dessus

2026.09.22

Within Meursault Premier Cru Charmes, Domaine des Comtes Lafon owns 1.71 hectares in Charmes du Dessus — the upper part of the vineyard.

That location is central to understanding this wine.

Deep clay-limestone soils give the Chardonnay natural breadth, while Lafon’s parcel is known for producing wines with power without excessive weight.

1.71 hectares in Charmes du Dessus

Meursault 1er Cru Charmes is a Premier Cru vineyard in Meursault, a village in Burgundy’s Côte de Beaune famous for Chardonnay-based white wines.

“Premier Cru” is an official Burgundy vineyard classification below Grand Cru and above village-level wine. The name on the bottle therefore refers not only to Meursault, but to a specifically classified vineyard within the village.

Lafon’s 1.71-hectare holding lies in Charmes du Dessus, literally the upper section of Charmes. The soils are relatively deep clay and limestone, with crumbly rock continuing well below the surface.

The estate’s US importer describes the site as producing wines that are powerful but not heavy — a useful way to understand the balance Lafon seeks here.

Meursault has no Grand Cru vineyards

One detail can surprise readers who are new to Burgundy: there are no Grand Cru vineyards within the village of Meursault.

That makes Premier Cru sites such as Charmes, Perrières and Genevrières especially important when comparing the different expressions of Meursault.

In Burgundy, even the position within a named vineyard can matter. Looking beyond the word “Charmes” to the specific holding — in Lafon’s case, Charmes du Dessus — helps explain why wines from the same Premier Cru can differ from producer to producer.

Biodynamic across the entire domaine since 1998

Domaine des Comtes Lafon stopped using synthetic products in its vineyards in 1992 and began its organic conversion in 1995.

After several years of trials, the domaine adopted biodynamic farming across all of its vineyards in 1998.

For readers unfamiliar with the term, biodynamics builds on organic farming — avoiding synthetic agricultural chemicals — while also treating the vineyard as a living system and placing additional emphasis on soil health, plant vitality and seasonal rhythms.

At Lafon, the goal is not simply to follow a farming philosophy. The approach is intended to make the differences between individual vineyard sites more clearly visible in the finished wines.

Premier Cru wines spend about 16 months in oak

Lafon does not radically change its winemaking method from one Meursault Premier Cru to another. Instead, it keeps the overall approach relatively consistent so that the vineyard itself remains the main variable.

For the Premier Cru whites, the proportion of new oak generally varies between 25% and 40%, and the wine remains in wood for around 16 months.

Bâtonnage — stirring the lees, the fine yeast sediment left after fermentation — is used sparingly rather than routinely. The domaine employs it mainly when fermentation is slow to finish or when a young wine needs it.

The purpose is not to make the oak itself the dominant flavour, but to give the wine enough time and structure to show the character of Charmes du Dessus.

From Dominique Lafon to the fifth generation

The Lafon family has been associated with the domaine since the nineteenth century. Dominique Lafon took over in 1985 and reshaped both vineyard management and cellar work over the following decades.

Dominique retired from day-to-day leadership at the end of 2021. The domaine is now led by the next generation, Léa Lafon and Pierre Lafon.

The people have changed, but the central idea remains: allow each vineyard to retain a distinct identity. Meursault 1er Cru Charmes is one of the clearest ways to see that approach in the domaine’s white-wine range.