Tasted with Dominique Lafon at the Château de Bligny, 19 September 2022.
Domaine Dominique Lafon
Château de Bligny
14 Grande rue
21200 Bligny-lès-Beaune
More reports for Dominique Lafon.
The low volumes of the 2021 vintage have meant that Dominique has altered his usual style for some of the wines – his (delicious!) aligoté is a case in point: “Usually, I’d produce this with a long elevage in stainless-steel tanks but due to the frost, the volume of juice would have been too low for my tank. So, I had to do the elevage in barrels – and the elevage is always faster in barrels. Normally I’d be bottling in November but the wine would nave been dead by then – old barrels and DIAM, of course.”
Note, the vineyard work and the harvesting for the majority of these wines is done by the team of Comtes Lafon.
The wines…
The best négoce label for whites in 2021? Good luck finding some!
The first vintage for this was 2018 – a contract with a serious producer of Volnay…
Lovely bright freshness, this is a highly attractive, almost riesling aromatic style. Direct, fresh, so lip-smacking. Great wine, I love the structure too! Bravo!
From 70-year-old vines near Meursault Limozin, plus Femelottes in Puligny – trying to get this latter parcel classified as villages. Work done by the Comtes Lafon team, there’s no certification, but the work is the same.
That’s a beautifully vibrant nose. Gorgeous on the palate too. So few words needed – Bravo…
2021 Pernand-Vergelesses
High vines.
Fresh, sherbert-style aromatics. Direct, muscular style but this is lithe and athletic muscle! Vibrant energy coupled with Pernand minerality. Electric wine – simply excellent!
From the hill near Narvaux – Charmes de Narvaux. Only 2 barrels instead of the usual 7 in this vintage
Ooh proper, energetic, wide, ginger-spiced Meursault. I love the energy, the mobile style and the vibrant finish too!
0.5 hectares – high and low vines – but only 10 hl/ha here.
Much more floral aromas. But in the mouth, this is direct and mineral, it is a wine of tension. Gorgeous wine – in fact, the whole range of whites.
Les Reds:
2021 Volnay
From the villages part of Les Lurets, the bottom of the hill, late-ripening here – old vines.
Almost metallic freshness, the malo was done only days earlier but that’s not obvious. A good red-fruited freshness. Mouth-filling, with good shape, finishing with persistence. Very good wine.
2021 Beaune 1er Epenottes
These vines were once with Drouhin and are organic
A little rounder – this is a very silky nose. Rather a vibrant flavour, with floral-infected fruit. Melting and long, I’d wait for the finish to better express itself but the first flavours are great now…
2021 Volnay 1er Lurets
Under Champans, the top part of Lurets, near Robardelles. There was once a plan to group everything here under one name, but somebody refused. Only three barrels from 1/3 hectare.
Direct attack from this impressive nose. Energetic wine; ebullient, super energy, slightly metallic but growing ever more engaging in the finish – and what a delicious finish!