Dominique Lafon - Volnay 2021

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Pretty and fresh aromas display ripe plum, red and dark currant plus a top note of raspberry. There is good punch to the delicious middle weight flavors that exude notes of salinity and rusticity on the lingering finish. This is really quite good and while it's not an elegant rendition of the genre, I like the depth and persistence. Outstanding. –Allen Meadows, Burghound

Always searching for new challenges, Dominique Lafon started his own label - separate from the family domaine - in 2008 and currently works approximately 4.5 hectares in Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Volnay, and Beaune. Legally, he is considered a négociant but this is only because Dominique shares space with another winemaker. (Think of it as a custom crush facility, but in Burgundy.)

0.75 hectares
In the village-level lieu-dit of “Les Lurets”, a cool site

Volnay wine is produced in the commune of Volnay in Côte de Beaune of Burgundy, and in some vineyards in the commune of Meursault. The Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) Volnay is only used for red wine with pinot noir as the main grape variety. There are no Grand Cru vineyards within Volnay, but several highly regarded Premier Cru vineyards. The AOC was created in 1937 (87 years ago).

In 2008, there were 206.7 hectares (511 acres) of vineyard surface was in production for Volnay wine at village and Premier Cru level, and 7,733 hectoliter of wine was produced, corresponding to just over 1 million bottles.

The AOC regulations also allow up to 15% total of chardonnay, pinot blanc and pinot gris as accessory grapes in the red wines, but this not very often practiced. The allowed base yield is 40 hectoliter per hectare. The grapes must reach a maturity of at least 10.5% potential alcohol for village-level wine, and 11.0% for Premier Cru wine.

The style of Volnay wine is typically light and aromatic, and elegant rather than powerful, with considerably less tannin than the Pommard wines from the neighboring village.

Dominique Lafon Description

For those who love great Burgundy, this winery needs no introduction. However, for those who want to learn more about the region’s great terroirs, tasting the wines of Domaine des Comtes Lafon is a true education. Jules Lafon migrated to Burgundy’s Côte d’Or from his native Tarn-et-Garonne in the southwest of France in 1887. His marriage in 1894 to Marie Boch, the daughter of a vigneron and négociant in Meursault, marked the official beginning of the domaine. A lawyer by trade, Jules managed the domaine, increased his wife’s family’s holdings and eventually became the mayor of Meursault in 1923. As mayor, Jules reintroduced the tradition of la Paulée, Meursault’s post-harvest feast celebrated every year during the weekend of the Hospices de Beaune wine auction in late November. If you go to Meursault, you’ll find a street named for him. Three generations later, in 1984, their great-grandson Dominique took over the domaine. Dominique’s father, René, had been working in Paris and had rented out most of his vineyards to other growers under the time-honored Burgundian tradition of métayage, or share-cropping. During this time, they produced small lots of wine under the Comtes Lafon label, using the juice that came from the vignerons as rent. As these long-term contracts were gradually ending, Dominique decided to reclaim the land and bottle the wine himself—a turning point for this historic estate. By 1993, all of the family’s 13.8 hectares were back under Dominique’s control, and he began slowly converting the vineyards to organic viticulture.

Inside Burgundy

On the pale side of crimson purple. A light pinot nose. Slightly gamey on the palate, but this is reduction rather than bacterial, an after effect of late malolactic. There is a sweet dark raspberry fruit behind, middleweight, light acidity and the tannins are integrated.