Tasted in Meursault with Dominique Lafon, 23 October, 2015.
Domaine des Comtes Lafon
5 Rue Pierre Joigneaux
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 21 22 17
www.comtes-lafon.fr
Vintage 2015:
Very happy with the yields in 2015, though the reds were still very low. The vines hit by hail were still quite difficult to train in 2015, but fortunately saw no hail in this year. Dominique is very bullish about his red Côte de Beaunes: “A little like 2005, but possibly with more balance.”
Vintage 2014:
All had quick malos and were often done in Jan/Feb. 2012 has a bit of strong tannin – probably from the hail – but these 2014s not as the hail was earlier.
The wines…
No racking yet for these wines, except the Monthelie.
Last year my timing wasn’t great in terms of the position of the 2013’s elevage, as, at that time, there was no consistent level of performance in this cellar. But one year later, to the day, it certainly wasn’t the case this year: Reds and whites were really showing brilliantly. Bravo!
2014 Monthelie 1er Les Duresses
assembled one week before, to be bottled in the new year.
A gorgeous fruit here. Concentrated at the core and slowly growing, becoming rounder, with insinuating intensity, and a fine, long elegant finish.
Normal production here is about 6 barrels. Just 2.5 barrels in 2013, at least that was better than the 1.5 barrels in 2012, where Dominique bottled the whole production in magnums. In 2014 again just 2 barrels. Old vines from ’71 and ’73 – Dominique notes that the training wasn’t too bad, but the wood still showed the effects of the hail. In 15 they look much better, hoping they back to full force next year.
Really bigger, and more open with some freshness and more florals. Bigger in the mouth too, rounder, beautifully textured faboulousness. Super energy too.
97 years old vines.
Narrower but deep nose that’s fresh and floral. Direct, much more direct, structural but with super-fine tannin to augment the texture. Ouf! I love the energy and intensity of the mid-palate.
This is a large 3.5 ha plot. A normal result would be 50 barrels.
My note was corrupted by a joke about the vintage with Dominique: Good ripeness but not too much. Good acidity but not too much (‘all 14s are like that’). Concentrated but not heavy. It all seems to fit. Despite the jokey nature of this modest note, the wine is really superb!
Les Blancs…
2014 Meursault
From four parcels of villages fruit.
Perfect Meursault nose of freshness, gingerbread and interest. Lovely, lithe flavour melting over the palate. Lovely, simple but finely lingering flavour. Bravo!
The vines here now average about 70 years old.
Finer, ginger again, lots of elegance here. More weight, more depth, great texture too, and a slightly more intense mid-palate and length. Beautiful.
2014 Meursault Desirée
A hint of reduction and agrume. More mineral, more direct, then ‘Pow!’ width with beautiful mouth-watering effect – super-yum!
Super elegant – there’s Meursault in there, but only just – aromatically this is very shy. Fresher, larger, yet without weight, a little more open intensity then a beautiful decay. Perfectly balanced but a contemplative über elegant wine.
2014 Meursault 1er Goutte d’Or
70% hail losses.
The nose has a grain more of ripeness and is more open, but this id fresh and has a little ginger. More force (it’s the clay), more weight, but with lovely waves of flavour. Super yum.
Only 16 hl/ha from these 45 year-old vines. It’s at the bottom but still one of last to be harvested.
Also clearly Meursault here, but much more width and openness and a strong mineral dimension. Here is more weight, a hint more open energy than the last. Super, lingering, mineral flavour in finish. Bravo!
A little warmth, fresh above, certainly a more modest aromatic than the last two. More energy; lithe, melting over the tongue with good acidity. Not the best wine of Meursault but often the tastiest. And that’s the case here.
These are the last vines in Charmes – their neighbours are the Puligny Combettes of Sauzet.
A little herb. A little mineral in the mouth, fuller, more bright, more width but with fine balance. Wow! finishing width with tannin too. Brilliant.
2014 Meursault 1er Perrières
Own 1 hectare.
Wide and fresh, it demands your interest, but despite its modesty it’s quite absorbing. In the mouth this is large-scaled with a good, slightly plush texture wide, elegantly complex. Not so demonstrative, but really the most gorgeous finishing width of fine citrus flavour.
Wide, mineral and a suggestion of reduction. A completely different energy and shape of lean muscle, with up and down flavour intensity. Here arrives the finish and I suppose I’m like a surfer riding a wave. Bravo!