Volnay 1er cru Les Santenots du Milieu, Domaine des Comtes Lafon 2020

That said, the red wines should never be overlooked. It was largely established by Jules Lafon who added significant holdings in Meursault to parcels which had been inherited from a Marie Boch. Jules also founded the Paulée de Meursault, a big knees-up each November which developed from 35 friends to over 600 guests. His sons, Pierre and Henri, presided over an estate which was largely let out to sharecroppers and was saved from being sold by the return of René Lafon from Paris in 1956. He began the process of bringing the land back in hand, a process completed by his son Dominique from 1984. In turn Dominique has recently handed over the reins to his daughter Léa and nephew Pierre. The domaine stands at 16.3 ha spread across four villages and 15 appellations. In Meursault they have: Clos de la Barre, Désirée, Charmes, Goutte d'Or, Porusots, Bouchères, Genevrières, Perrières and village wine. In reds we follow the Volnay Santenots-du-Milieu and Monthelie Les Duresses. Then they have 0.32 ha of Le Montrachet. Across the holdings vines are densely planted and average 30+ years of age. Dominique was an early adopter of sustainable viticulture. They abandoned weed killer in 1992 in favour of ploughing and became organically certified in 1998. The domaine is now fully biodynamic, using compost produced in co-operation with other growers. The whites are fermented in mostly old barrels with carefully controlled bâtonnage and aged for between 18 and 22 months. For the reds, there is a good proportion of whole berry fermentation then maturation in oak – one third new – for a similar period of time . The Meursaults have wonderful fruit, and each wine is distinctive and characterful, some being more spicy and some being almost Riesling-like for their aromatic quality. The reds are notable for deep black fruit and silky tannin structures. We are lucky to have a good allocation of wines directly from the domaine and can offer greater availability of the Héritiers du Comte Lafon whites from the Mâconnais.