This is one of the great estates of Burgundy and has been for generations, even before Michel Lafarge, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday and is in amazing mental and physical shape, brought the domaine to international attention. Michel’s son Frédéric recently celebrated his 60th birthday has continued the tradition, and on this trip I briefly met Frédéric’s daughter Clothilde who now works in the estate, too.
Frédéric Lafarge said that the fires and smoke to combat the freeze at the end of April saved the vintage. Harvesting began on 1 September with the Volnay-Clos du Château des Ducs and Pommard-Pézerolles and then ceased until 5 September. When vineyards suffer from a freeze (as opposed to hail), the following year, they tend to produce. abundantly. Here, the yields were nevertheless restricted, with the premiers crus averaging about 35hl/ha. As always here, the grapes were completely destemmed. With the pause after the harvesting of the Clos du Château des Ducs and Pézerolles, the harvesting team spent the time destemming those grapes by hand, grape by grape.
Malo-lactic fermentations were early, beginning in December and finishing in January. The wines remained on the lees until racking in the last half of August.
The estate has been biodynamic since the late 1990s.
This is a great set of wines with eight premiers crus of top quality, and finally, reasonable quantities will be available.
Starting with the whites:
2017 Bourgogne-Aligoté Raisins Dorés
Like Domaine de Villaine's Bouzeron, Lafarge’s Bourgogne-Aligoté is from a type of Aligoté grape — the raisin doré — that gives a richer, broader wine than most Aligotés. Harvested only on 21 September, this wine has good acidity, liveliness, freshness, and finesse. (88-90)
2017 Meursault
The Meursault displays good acidity, some sucrosity of texture that should burn off, salinity, and a touch of Meursault butter. (86-88)
2017 Meursault vendanges sélectionnées
The Meursault, vendanges sélectionnées shows buttery aromas. The mouth shows richness, butter, minerality, and freshness, with a bit of sucrosity that, again, should burn off. (87-89)
2017 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Aigrots
The Beaune-Clos des Aigrots has fine acidity, finesse, purity, elegance, and some minerality. (89-92)
Shifting to the reds:
2017 Bourgogne-Passetoutgrains L’Exception
The Bourgogne-Passetoutgrains is mineral and light with good acidity. (85-88)
2017 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Lafarge's Bourgogne shows red fruits, purity, lightness, and good breadth. It’s an excellent introduction to Lafarge’s 2017s. From vines that at one time were classified as Volnay. (86-88)
2017 Côte de Beaune-Villages
From a small plot in Meursault near the Volnay border, 2017 marks the first wine under this appellation that Lafarge has produced since 2011; the vintages in between were so small that what was harvested was declassified into the Bourgogne. The wine has cassis fruit, some body and grip (in fact, the tannins function to hold it all together). The wine also has smoothness of texture and length. (87-89)
2017 Volnay
The Volnay has purity, cassis fruit, and depth to go with freshness and acidity. As with other Lafarge wines, this will need some time before it drinks to full potential. (89-91)
2017 Volnay vendanges sélectionnées
There’s sap to the body of this wine to go with the strawberry and cassis fruit, length, and depth. This is a considerable step up from the regular village wine and a good bridge to the premiers crus (indeed, what many Volnay producers would be happy to produce from their own premiers crus). (91-93)
2017 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Aigrots
Lafarge’s red Beaune-Clos des Aigrots shows depth, finesse, cassis fruit, intensity, and a pleasing sappiness to its texture. (92-95)
2017 Beaune 1er Cru Grèves
At 96 years-old, the vines from the Beaune-Grèves are the oldest in the domaine. They frequently give great wine that does not get the attention it deserves, and in 2017, there’s no question that this is a great wine. It is firm with depth, finesse, sensuality, and red fruits. 32 hl/ha for this wine. (93-96)
2017 Pommard 1er Cru Pézerolles
Equally sensational is the Pommard-Pézerolles. The wine has dark fruits and the sensual texture characteristic of Pézerolles. It is light on the tongue and medium-weight overall, with impressive finesse. (93-96)
2017 Volnay 1er Cru Pitures
The Volnay-Pitures has dark fruit, depth, intensity, and elegance. Pitures is between the Clos des Ducs and Pommard, so characteristically, there’s quite a bit of grip to this wine. (93-95)
2017 Volnay 1er Cru Mitans
Lafarge’s Volnay-Mitans also has dark fruit, but here there is some spice to it, roundness, and more weight than in the Pitures. The wine has finesse, but there are also tannins on the finish to support aging. (93-95)
2017 Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets
Finesse, lightness, and elegance are all present in the Volnay-Caillerets, but as with other 2017s I tasted from this great vineyard, the signature Caillerets texture doesn’t show at this time. (91-94)
2017 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes
Yet another great Volnay-Clos des Chênes here. The wine has good energy to go with dark fruits, sensuality, length, and overall harmony. (93-96)
2017 Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Château des Ducs
Last among the reds, the Volnay-Clos du Château des Ducs has spiced red fruits, finesse, harmony, length, and a medium-weight body. (93-96)
2017 vin de France rosé Trublion
Trublion, which means “troublemaker” in French, is a rosé made from very young vines in Lafarge’s plot for the red Bourgogne. The wine has strawberry fruit and good intensity — very good for what it is. 87/A-