Vinous (94)

The 2009 Meursault Genevrières wraps around the palate with layers of fruit. The 60 year-old vines add serious muscle and depth in this gorgeous, weighty Genevrières. A textured, expressive finish rounds things out in style.

Vinous (96+)

Usually we feature older wines in Cellar Favorites, but given the understandable trepidation consumers have around cellaring white Burgundy, I thought it would be interesting to see how a handful of highly touted white Burgundies are faring. To be honest, I had a selfish reason for wanting to taste these wines. I bought many of the Lafon 2010s (it is my daughter’s birth year), but I did so not really knowing when the wines would be ready to drink or how long they will last. I think I can at least offer a view on the first part of that question, but the second, happily, remains a question mark, in the best sense of the term.Vinous readers will recall that 2010 is unusual in the Côte de Beaune for its combination of both elevated ripeness and high acidity, two attributes one rarely finds in the same vintage. At Lafon, the 2010s were positively electric when I tasted them from barrel and then from bottle. Today, a few years later, the 2010 whites are every bit as impressive. Although projecting drinking windows for white Burgundy these days is fraught with peril, based on this showing all of the 2010s need at least a few more years in bottle with the possible exception of the Goutte d’Or.While the preceding Meursaults all offer a measure of exuberance – albeit in a classically austere style – the 2010 Meursault Genevrières is a much more introverted wine that draws the taster in with its myriad shades of dimension. Deceptively medium in body, the 2010 is all about intensity, cut and inward energy, with the classic reductive flavor profile that is typical of this great site, and breathtaking harmony. The 2010 refreshes the palate with every taste as it continues to grow in the glass. Over the last few years, the 2010 has blossomed into a spectacular Meursault. This is the best showing yet from the Genevrières.

Vinous (93+)

Pale yellow. Orange, lime oil and spices on the nose. Densely packed and utterly seamless, with an impression of baby fat leavened by strong underlying energy. Complex flavors of orange, minerals, crushed stone and spices. Today the Poruzots shows more power but this will be the superior wine in five years.

Vinous (92-94)

(ready to bottle): Bright, light yellow. Knockout nose combines lime, orange peel and minerals. Distinctly tactile, even a bit phenolic, with penetrating acidity giving the citrus and stone flavors terrific cut. The crop level here was just 25 hectoliters per hectare, which Lafon described as typical of the vintage.

Vinous (96)

The 2017 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru showed some reduction on the nose, but there is impressive delineation and focus and real mineralité here. It just needs bottle age. The palate is very well balanced, a live wire of acidity, tensile and mineral-driven with a judicious touch of spice toward the persistent finish. This is very classy and persistent, translating the terroir with style, a wine that flirts with profundity. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting in Savigny-lès-Beaune.

Vinous (96-98)

The 2018 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru rivets you to the spot with crushed pebble and crushed limestone scents that could only really originate from this vineyard. Such intensity! The beautifully balanced palate delivers a fabulous line of acidity, notes of orange zest and white peach and a stunning crescendo toward the finish, which shows amazing persistence. A Les Perrières with class. Brilliant.

Vinous (92-94)

The 2020 Meursault Les Perrières 1er Cru has quite a rich bouquet with tropical tones, maybe to the detriment of the mineralité that is slightly masked at the moment. The palate is very well balanced with a fine line of acidity, quite saline, lightly spiced with a vibrant finish that finally delivers the spiciness. Maybe pipped by the Les Charmes this year, this is a classy but not peak Perrières. Bottled under Diam 30. Closure: Diam 30

Vinous (91-93)

The 2020 Meursault Clos-de-la-Barre has a clean, quite precise bouquet that is a step up from the Village, traces of grilled almond and hazelnut. The palate is underpinned by a fine line of acidity, more mineralité and tension with a saline, slightly Puligny-like finish. One of those less-is-more Meursaults. Bottled under Diam 30. Closure: Diam 30

Vinous - Stephen Tanzer (94-97)

Superripe aromas of pear, peach, clove and smoked meat. Very ripe and highly concentrated, conveying a chewy impression of solidity. Wonderfully tactile wine, and yet there's terrific spine and verve here. Quite explosive on the mounting, utterly vibrant finish.

Vinous - Neal Martin (94-96)

The 2018 Volnay Les Santenots-du-Milieu 1er Cru has the most intense bouquet of Dominique Lafon’s Volnays this year, intense black cherry scents intermingling with boysenberry and light cassis aromas, all delivered with the utmost detail. The palate offers black cherry and raspberry fruit infused with violets, very fine tannins and gentle grip. The silky-smooth finish fans out gloriously. Stunning.

Vinous (92-94)

The 2019 Volnay Les Santenots-du-Milieu 1er Cru, matured in a little more new oak than the Clos des Chênes (around one-third, according to Lafon), offers a quintessential Santenots nose of almost brazen blueberry and cassis aromas mixed with raspberry and violets. The palate is rounded on the entry and exerts a gentle grip. Opulent but controlled, though this year I find more nuance and sensuality on the Champans, which would be my pick of Lafon’s reds.