Except for the Clos des Chênes, yields for the reds here were very high — 50 hl which is the highest the estate has ever made under Dominique Lafon. In whites, the Genevrières, Charmes, and Perrières were short crops in 2017 because they had produced well in 2016 (in contrast, those vineyards affected by frost generally produce higher crops in the succeeding year), but the other vineyards were generous.
Almost all the reds were destemmed, although there is a small amount of whole clusters in the Monthélie.
Malolactic fermentations were very early.
We start, as always, with the reds:
2017 Monthélie 1er Cru Les Duresses
This wine had been moved already from barrel to tank in preparation for bottling. The strawberry fruit is pure, there’s a bit of rose here, too, and the wine is light and smooth. Lots of charm here. (89-91)
2017 Volnay
This wine is declassified young vines, mostly from Santenots with a little from Champans included, too. The wine is light, airy, and smooth with good density and precise red fruits. (90-93)
2017 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes
As mentioned above, yields here, at about 40 hl/ha, were lower than for the other reds. The wine shows red cherry fruit with finesse. The mouth is airy, light, mineral, and pure. (91-93)
2017 Volnay 1er Cru Champans
Lafon’s Volnay-Champans is smooth and light, but has Champans fleshiness. The fruits are long and red, and there is good purity here. (91-93)
2017 Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-du-Milieu
Here we have more structure than in the preceding wines, as one would expect. There’s good acidity here, and depth the the red and dark berry fruits, and lightness on the palate. (93-95)
Moving now to the whites:
2017 Meursault
This wine was already in tank in preparation for bottling. To give you an idea of the difference between 2016 and 2017, there were 5 barrels of this wine in 2016, and 50 in 2017. The wine is pure and clear with attractive acidity, a medium-weight body, and a hint of butter. (88-90)
2017 Meursault Désirée
This wine, too, was tasted from tank. It is light and ethereal with lime fruit, good intensity and length, and a stony texture. (90-92)
2017 Meursault Clos de la Barre
As almost always, the Clos de la Barre is a step up to premier cru quality in all but official classification. The wine is deep, pure, intense, and stony with balance, tension, and minerality to the fruit. (92-94)
2017 Meursault 1er Cru Bouchères
The Meursault-Bouchères is deep and floral in the nose. The mouth shows lightness and purity with no rusticity that one finds in some Bouchères. The wine shows freshness, salinity, and finesse. (92-94)
2017 Meursault 1er Cru La Goutte d’Or
Here we have minerality, typical pear fruit, richness, purity, and finesse. Goutte d’Or is a wine that needs a bit of time in the bottle, but there’s great promise here. (93-96)
2017 Meursault 1er Cru Porusots
The Porusots is stony, mineral, and salty with steeliness, great tension, and length. This is a topflight example of the vineyard. (93-96)
2017 Meursault 1er Cru Genevrières
Lafon’s Genevrières is medium-weight, flowery, deep, and pure, making for an outstanding wine. (93-95)
2017 Meursault 1er Cru Charmes
Although I usually prefer Genevrières to Charmes, that was not the case on this visit. The wine is mineral, pure, and light with finesse, depth, and great focus and energy. (94-96)
2017 Meursault 1er Cru Perrières
This is simply great Perrières — one can argue about whether the vineyard should be grand cru, but there is no argument that it can produce wines of grand cru quality such as this one. Perrières tension, depth, stoniness, purity, and balance — what’s more to want? (96-98)
2017 Montrachet
It’s hard to call a Montrachet of this quality a step-down, but after the Perrières, that may be the case here — at least at the time I tasted. This wine is less developed than the others, but rich, round, and deep. It would be fascinating to see how this wine developed. (94-97)