Tasted in Meursault with Pierre Lafon, 30 March 2023.
Domaine des Comtes Lafon
5 Rue Pierre Joigneaux
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 21 22 17
www.comtes-lafon.fr
More reports with Domaine des Comtes Lafon.
I ran out of time to visit this domaine at the end of 2022 – but I was lucky enough to squeeze them in this month 😉
Pierre on 2022:
“We were happy with the volume from the start but the wines are already showing too – we tasted the Mâcons yesterday and there is still some work to be done but they showed very well.”
Pierre on 2021:
“Almost 50% in the reds – Monthelie was correct – but the rest… We had one and a half barrels of Genevrières for instance – it’s a complicated vintage – certainly in the vines – but in the cellar all went very well. All the reds are bottled – done only 3 weeks ago – but the whites are all in different stages of elevage…”
The wines…
Very strong reds in 2021 but what a set of whites – one of the top handful of domaines in this vintage!
2021 Monthelie 1er Duresses
1.05 hectares – the only vines that gave a normal yield in 2021. 30 years ago it hardly ripened here but even in 21 not a problem…
Not fully open but still there’s a round and attractive red fruit. Ooh – far from concentrated and showing some creamy oak too – but here’s a seamless width of fine textured wine – the fruit slowly bubbling to the surface – finishing with extra intensity and growing wider and wider in the finish – lots to enjoy already but I’d still be waiting 8-10 years…
There’s no Volnay villages – it’s anyway, usually, declassified 1er cru from Santenots…
2021 Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
There was only 2 barrels of this – it’s up on high…
Higher-toned aromatics – some impact here. Hmm – more incisive, direct, cool fruit – a subtle tannin in support – but practically without grain. Holding a broad and persistent finish – that will be super wine.
Two-thirds of the vines are 100-years-old.
More width in the bass-notes here – slowly filling the glass with redder fruit of fine clarity. Another step up in clarity and here there’s more fluidity of flavour too – that’s a wine that ingrains into the palate – gorgeously textured – lithe muscled – great wine!
This is a large 3.5 ha plot. A normal result would be 50 barrels.
A more vertical nose at the start – deep – but the top notes are finely perfumed. Silmilar silk and cool style to the Champans but here with extra width and a more open personality and even an extra precision. Extra in the finish – holding persistently, energetically – only at the end, the faint grain of tannin starting to show. Simply super wine.
Les Whites…
2021 Meursault Clos de la Baronne
To be bottled next week – ‘we only lost 2/3rds here…’
Nicely vibrant, slightly toasted – a great invitation. In the mouth there’s also a faint, toasty, vibration – nutty and complex – always mouth-watering – and a finishing intensity that grows and grows. That’s a lovely finish – a super wine.
This from Crotots, En la Barre, Baronne and Luraule – a wine of assembly – fined today, racked in January
A little extra aromatic width and quite a bit more energy – that’s very lovely. More direct, supple, a wine to absolutely fall into – for a villages, this is great stuff! Bravo – so vibrantly finishing too.
0.5 hectare. Of-course, this would be 1er cru if they bottled with the name Plures, before AOC the area was called Desirée but have used at the domaine since the 1800s but everyone else started to use Plures after AOC – in 1973 the father of Dominique labelled it as a 1er cru but the douane said that vineyard didn’t exist so he had to remove the 1er from the label. To be bottled next week – ‘it’s ready.’
Really perfumed – that’s a great nose. Extra width and little more generosity vs the previous villages. Supple and silky – a small cushion here – the faintest kiss of the barrel too. But what a wine. A certain fluidity of flavour here – that’s also great but in a more generous style with an almost sparkly finish…
The vines here now average about 70 years old. Also fined today.
This nose almost a hybrid of the last two – the fining maybe taking a hint of the clarity away. A wine that shows more density and structure – a bridge to the 1er crus – the oak subtly more visible – but also a wine of fluidity and concentration – great agin – remember it’s ‘only’ a villages… A great finish for the label – so complex, so memorable…
2021 Meursault 1er Bouchères
Only since 2011 here, previously with domaine Manuel, shared with JM Roulot. The first vines to be harvested in 2021, indeed roughly so in most years. Only two barrels – ‘it’s a consistent story for 2021 here… It will be filtered in a couple of weeks the bottling 3-4 weeks after that.’
A rounder nose, slightly more floral – fine clarity. A little more direct and mineral, perhaps a little reductive too. A middle and finishing density/intensity of flavour that you can chew – not fully in place today – give it some time…
Same stage of elevage as the Bouchères
A more vertical nose – not yet with full clarity though. Cooler, more mineral style – ooh – that’s showing well on the palate though – mineral mobile and complex – fine purity – and a seriously great finish! Potentially a great wine.
‘This is the transition between northern and southern 1ers of Meursault.’ Later harvesting – ‘but you still have to go very quickly when it’s ready…’ The same stage as the Meursault and the Clos de Barre – fining since today.
Hmm – that’s a fine floral aromatic – faintly pushed with a little gas. Open, a cascade of mouth-watering flavour – more overtly mineral – and with super attack. Another great Poruzots!
‘We actually have fewer bottles than actual clients! We will possibly bottle in magnum and decide what to do later…’
Ooh that’s very open – same stage as Bouchères – filtering in 2 days – more than a little floral perfume too. In the moth a little less volume than the Poruzots but with a fine, cool style and certain structure – almost a hint of smokiness to these flavours – flavours that melt over the palate – a small volume but no small wine – bravo!
Old vines – 98-years-old. This not yet fined.
A fine depth – not so wide today – but open and precise – there’s a hint more aromatic generosity here – certainly depth. Today behind the last two in structural definition – but not by much – almost chalky finishing – keep the faith – this will almost certainly turn out to be great Charmes.
Same stage as Bouchères/Genevrières
A broader, finer though less deep aromatic today. Wow in the mouth – a cascade of juicy flavours with a large helping of minerality – what a wine!
Same stage as the Perrières/Bouchères/Genevrières
Round but with something extra in the depth it reminds me of this year’s Sauzet – maybe less wild. Hmm – more considered, more generous but more in practically all directions – the Perrières knocks you of your feet – this wine will put you back on your feet – two very different things – this less overtly great today – but it will get there for sure – bravo.