Tasted in Meursault with Dominique Lafon, 23 October, 2018.
Domaine des Comtes Lafon
5 Rue Pierre Joigneaux
21190 Meursault
Tel: +33 3 80 21 22 17
www.comtes-lafon.fr
Dominique on 2018:
“In 2018 I was worried about mildew, early on. It was a vintage where the growth seemed to keep speeding up. 15 August I made a tour through my vines and I thought that there wasn’t so much wine – I was wrong! The grapes were beautifully clean, though the pHs were ‘average’ but stable – there was also practically no malic acid. I actually started harvesting 1 day before Jean-Marc (Roulot) and all my cuvées were between 12.5° and 13.5°. For the reds we had less volume than in 2017, again very clean grapes, pHs of 3.20-3.35 – in Santenots this is not bad.”
Dominique on 2017:
“2017 is a good vintage of whites and a super vintage of reds. They could be the best that I have ever made in red, despite volume like 1999 in some places. The whites are classic from an aroma perspective. Reds have good maturity – not too much, not too dense – I like the balance. Airy wines vs 2015. There was actually less to harvest in 2017 than there was in 2016 in Mâcon, but I find the wines balanced and seductive. I started the 2018 harvest later there than in the Côte d’Or – but there was volume! For my Meursault whites I think that 2016 is more intellectual than 2017, which is currently behind though everything is there, nothing too much. But that might change. I still love the 16s though…”
The wines…
Dominique’s reds are excellent – as to be expected, but the Mâcons are great for the labels – such a great range and not a single where I can point to any accent of oak – such a great range. But then there’s the Meursaults – maybe the best cellar of 2017?
2017 Monthelie 1er Duresses
1.05 hectares. In tank since end of September.
A nice depth of fruit, suggesting flowers too – a good nose. Round, supple, open, fresh and complex. Easy and delicious – lovely in the finish… fine and long…
2017 Volnay
A wine mainly made from the product of young vines from santenots, plus a little Champans too
More colour. Fresh, finer though a less overt nose, faintly spiced. Hmm, finer texture, juicy, waves of flavour with a hint of barrel. Delicious.
The rest were sampled from barrel, not yet racked:
2017 Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
6 barrels in 2017 vs only 2 in 2016.
A more compact, denser nose. Ooh, but vibrant, round, with great intensity – lip-smacking finishing flavour. Delicious again!
2016 Volnay 1er Champans
99 year-old vines.
Also a compact nose but with a little more width. Wider, fresher wine, more mineral too. A fine and juicy impression here, the fruit style fresher with more energy.
2016 Volnay 1er Santenots du Milieu
This is a large 3.5 ha plot. A normal result would be 50 barrels – 19 barrels in 2016, 81 in 2017 – wow…
A little more open and certainly a more energetic nose. There’s a faint reduction on the palate, this a wine that’s more mouth-filling. It’s fresh with depth of flavour and an extra cushion of silky texture. Super length. Excellent!
Les Blancs…
The following wines from Mâcon were bottled before the harvest:
2017 Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, Mâcon-Prissé
A nicely vibrant nose. Round, but depth and vibrancy of flavour – lovely wine, modest length but very tasty…
2017 Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, Mâcon-Milly Lamartine
A fresh width of aroma. Extra clarity and drive – juicily delicious with a suggestion of minerality. Mouth watering in the finish…
2017 Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, Mâcon-Uchizy Les Maranches
A little more depth of aroma, vibrant again, lots of volume and energy, hmm – so good! Really persistent… really delicious…
Good width, deeper, denser aroma. Hmm, more depth of flavour once more. Mouth-watering flavour, faintly reductive style, insinuating, delicious wine – bravo!
Fresher and with a little floral accent. Hmm. More melting, chiselled flavour. Juicily finishing with a density of finishing flavour, long, energetic delicious, bravo wine…
A denser nose. Bright, mineral, depth – such an impressive depth. Mineral, sleek, beautiful wine, no overt oak in any of these. An extra something in the finish – really something.
2017 Meursault
This in tank.
This has a big nose, very Meursault, round, energetic, modestly mineral, immodestly, complex and flavourful, round too! Excellent!
0.5 hectare
An extra vibrance of aroma. And on the palate too – vibrant, complex, growing in intensity, growing in waves of flavour, round, perfumed, bravo!
The vines here now average about 70 years old.
Narrow top notes, growing in width in the middle. More direct, fine, complex, modestly mineral, wider and wider, so persistent. Fabulous. I want another sip!
2017 Meursault 1er Bouchères
Back to tank, the last was from barrel.
A modest but interesting mose. The palate is far broader and more complex, super wide, but I personally prefer the shape and delivery of the last – but the finish here is great…
Ooh, now thats a perfect, round but fresh Meursault. A hint of gas, but mouth-watering wine, growing in intensity, strict structure but tension from a great wine
‘This is the transition between northern and southern 1ers of Meursault’
A completely different register of fresh, intense fruit. Line, but energy too – almost a blend of the boucheres and gouttes with a hint extra energy. Also great wine.
A little extra warmth and width – I could say spice. Supple, concentrated, a touch of salinity, a certain energy in the middle and extra complexity too. Long, long, long, always a favourite here. Seductive wine…
The last two and Perrières, there’s less wine in 2017 than in 2016!
2017 Meursault 1er Charmes
Hmm, this is a round but beautifully inviting nose. Round in the mouth too – lots of volume with a boucheres-plus complexity – just a little more open and more depth, really an impressive depth to this wine – be patient…
Narrow but pure and deep. A hint of gas, but relaxed muscle, depth, vibrant, just great, simply great!
Big, floral, vibrant nose. A big floral, vibrant palate too – no fat, but such depth – unctuous depth and length. Simply another level, today touched by a little barrel…