Tasted in Meursault with Dominique Lafon, 02 November, 2016.
Domaine des Comtes Lafon
5 Rue Pierre Joigneaux
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 21 22 17
www.comtes-lafon.fr
Vintage 2016:
“Very small, nothing in some cases. I’ve got 120 barrels from 16 hectares – 350 is possible here. The villages provided 5-10 hectolitres per hectare, then there was 10-12 hl/ha in Santenots. A normal harvest in Charmes and Genevrières – and it looks really good. Mâcon was great, some hail, and in those vineyards, just 20 hl/ha, the rest great quality and with volume too.”
I, of-course, asked about the Montrachet ‘project’:
“Pierre Morey and even his father, had never seem frost in Le Montrachet like this. It’s not defined what happens next, yet, but a meeting is scheduled. Clearly the paperwork has to be done for the douanes. My plan is that the cuvée will be for sale. Now whether that’s one cuvée with one label that’s shared across the contributors, or it (the equivalent put in) goes back to the domaines with one price – it’s just a matter of the price.”
Vintage 2015:
250 barrels, compared to other vintages its a good harvest. 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…
The reds all finished malos by February, they are racked but not sulfured. The Mâcons are bottled and the Meursault whites predominantly remain in barrel, save (at least) one already racked into tank.
I really have to underline how good the reds are from this domaine – even more-so in 2015 – even if the whites have most of the limelight. Save for a couple of wines just a little later in elevage, that I’d love to see again in another month, ignoring the price-points, you can pick from both colours blind in this vintage…
2015 Monthelie
Silky, round red fruit on the nose. A faint gas, but still a fine and intense, yet round shape. Ripe fruit but with nice balance. A good finish too – super.
50% whole clusters used here – the only wine with wc in 2015.
Big wide, and cleaner, finer fruit. An extra mid-palate wave of fresh fruit. Beautiful wide and fresh finishing.
98 year-old vines.
A little firework reduction. Also in the mouth, but fresh waves of flavour, layered and wide. Extra density and a super finishing line of flavour. Gorgeous!
This is a large 3.5 ha plot. A normal result would be 50 barrels.
Quite the biggest and roundest nose. Pure red at the core. More density much more complexity, some salinity. Great wine.
Les Blancs…
First a little Mâcon – and all already bottled. ‘The grapes were harvested early, maybe a parcel might have reached 13.5°, but really nothing more than 13° was the target.‘
2015 Mâcon-Prissé
Depth of aroma with a faint barrel note. Big in the mouth, good texture, lots if weight and late arriving minerality. Fresh and energetic finishing. Very good.
2015 Mâcon Milly-Lamartime
A hint pf ripe fruit, narrower below. Wide, slightly lush but, to balance, with plenty of energy – indeed fun despite the weight. Faintly floral in the mid palate yum! Nice finishing here too!
A fresher nose some orange fruit in the middle. More mineral, definitely more fresh, lots of flavour dimension – bravo! Really plenty of mandarin fruit in the finish. I love this!
2015 Mâcon-Buissières
A fresh nose, mineral if less overt. Very mineral and silky, a subdued wine after the last, really a different denser fruit. I prefer the last but this finishes fabulously also. More discreet to start but all the impressive action is at the end.
2015 Mâcon-Chardonnay Clos de la Crochette
A fine and wide nose with lovely fresh fruit. Silky, some richness of texture here. Mineral and deeply fruited – again back-end loaded for effect. Good but I hanker after the previous two.
A fresh and inviting nose even if only modestly effusive. Bright, direct, complex, energetic with a growing blend of citrus and mineral – really a super wine bravo!
2015 Saint-Veran
‘Always seems behind the others after bottling, but give it more tome and…’
Fine nose of depth and clarity – drink me! Super mineral, fresh, and with a bubbling, growing complexity. Perhaps behind the last wine today, perhaps, but lovely all the same.
2015 Viré-Clessé
Also clean and transparent a fine invitation. Good volume, fine underlying complexity. Perhaps better finishing than the Saint-Veran today, in fact definitely so…
Back to the Côte d’Or…
2015 Meursault
From four parcels of villages fruit, including En la Barre, Crotots and Clos Baronne.
Wide and a fresh complexity – lovely. Some fat, but fine balancing acidity to the texture – real Meursault flavour that’s extra long. Yum!
The vines here now average about 70 years old.
Extra weight, but still fine and fresh. Definitely fresher on the mouth with more fruit complexity too – very much so – beautiful citrus fruited mid-palate – bravo!
2015 Meursault Desirée
Less width, more depth on this more mineral nose. A little less taut, but more mouth-watering complexity today – ‘it needs 1 more month for precision as it finished malo later‘ says Lafon.
2015 Meursault 1er Bouchères
A wide and classic Meursault spice. Directly more complex and saline a big wine. Super!
Finished malo only a couple of weeks ago.
Fresh and inviting nose. A little more reductive but really a fabulous finishing energy. Simply gorgeous!
2015 Meursault 1er Porusots
‘Maybe it’s finished malo, so not yet sulfured’ says Lafon.
This really dies smell of malo. A little more gas. Fine complex, fresh and mineral. Lots of waves of flavour here. But this has a really top finish – it should be really something!
Fuller, riper nose, still with freshness though. Bright, complex and really lovely flavour, waves of fine and complex notes. Never the finest, but often one of the tastiest!
A tighter nose. Bubbling complexity, weight, waves of flavour. Super wine, but more serious, and to wait for vs Genevrieres
Also not the biggest nose, but fine, detailed and complex. Fresh, growing intensity, super texture a wine that grows, moves and melts over the palate – just fabulous here. Maybe not the freshest today, but achingly long and simply super!
Wide, almost smoky, fresh. Very different. Mineral, wow complex, beautiful definition. Not to spit – dense and rich but really something very special.