Classification | Premier Cru Classe |
Type | Red |
Brand | Domaines des Comtes Lafon |
Vintage | 2008 |
Country | France |
Region | Burgundy, Cotes de Nuits |
Grape | Pinot Noir |
Volume | 0,75 |
Condition | From Original Wooden Case |
Label | Perfect |
Drinkable | -2020 |
Stock | 0 |
Lafon’s 2008 Volnay Santenots du Milieu smells of fresh blackberry mingled with kirsch and white pepper, which follow on a bright, pungent palate strongly marked by the chew of fruit skin and by black tea- and bark-like tannins. This finishes strongly, if a bit obstreperously, but increasing distance from its late malo may well permit it to display more richness. I would cellar it only with regular monitoring to see how the tannins evolve, but even in its youth it is sure to display considerable talent as a red meat accompaniment.
Dominique Lafon’s vineyards were hit hard by the July, 2008 hail, with his largest site – Santenots du Milieu – worst hit, and reduced in production by two-thirds, all of which he bottled together, rather than (as more usually) declassifying the young vines portion to village Volnay. Crop loss was due to dehydration as well, a factor compounded by late harvest. (“But before October,” relates Lafon, “the fruit simply was not ripe.”) Lafon’s chagrin – coming on the heels of two challenging vintages for Pinot – was more than assuaged, though, by the superb quality of his Meursaults in both 2007 and 2008 (on which I shall report soon in these pages).