Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jasper Morris
From the same grape supplier as the Beaune Grèves, the Vignes Franches is made from very old vines with good plant material. Pale pink-purple, very even, with the most delicious sensual, but balanced fruit on the nose. Seamless ripe cherry fruit with a little touch of raspberry, long fine and seamless, this would be my choice.
Barrel Sample: 91-94 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Produced from fruit purchased from a conventionally farmed parcel (which I regularly traverse when walking through the Beaune vineyards), Lafon's 2019 Beaune 1er Cru Les Vignes Franches exhibits aromas of sweet red berries, loamy soil, peonies and spices. Medium-bodied, supple and charming, it's built around fine, powdery tannins and succulent acids.
Barrel Sample: 89-91
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
While the city represents the epicenter of wine production in Burgundy, the term, “Beaune” also refers to the specific sub-appellation of the greater Côte de Beaune, whose vineyards climb up the pastoral slopes that border the city to its west. Originally founded as a Roman camp by Julius Caesar, the city of Beaune eventually became the seat of the dukes of Burgundy until the 13th century. Today it is home to top négociants such as Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Louis Latour, and Bouchard Père et Fils.
The appellation, dominated by Pinot Noir plantings, represents a lovely and charming place to begin to understand red Burgundy. Its sandy soils create light and supple, floral driven Pinot Noir. These wines are designed to be enjoyed within five to 10 years. The vineyards of Beaune span a broad swath of Premier Crus from Savigny-lès-Beaune to its border with Pommard.
Chardonnay acreage here has been increasing here in the more recent years.