Winemaker Notes
Purchased by Comte Jules Lafon in 1918, this small piece of Montrachet is the crown jewel of the estate, producing tiny amounts of a wine of astounding richness, balance, and depth.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Lafon's third of a hectare parcel in the south-east corner of Montrachet on the Chassagne side faces south, and the wine produced is often voluptuously rich. The 2019, however, seemed to stand apart for the lovely lemony fruit on the initial attack that developed in time to something a bit more tropical. Marked still by a bit of oak spice that complements without overwhelming the nuanced fruit character. The texture is lush almost to the point of decadence, but balance is retained thanks to a lively line of fresh acidity. Drinking Window: 2024 - 2039.
Barrel Sample: 99 -
Jasper Morris
4.5 barrels is an acceptable yield for Montrachet in a short vintage. Clear bright colour, this has a brilliant weight of fruit with a glowing exceptional extra quality from the ripeness of the vintage, which this vineyard can easily carry. There is not the slightest suggestion of undue heat here, just a gorgeous weight of embryonic fruit. It will eb a while before the detail emerges.
Barrel Sample: 96-99 -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Unwinding in the glass with notes of pear, citrus oil, mandarin orange, ripe peaches, freshly baked bread and clear honey, Lafon's 2019 Montrachet Grand Cru is full-bodied, elegantly muscular and layered, with a deep and prodigiously concentrated core, striking mid-palate amplitude and a long, lip-smacking finish. In any comparison between the triumvirate of 2017, 2018, and 2019, I can see this, the youngest of the three, taking first place a decade from now.
Barrel Sample: (96-98)+
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
A source of some of the finest, juicy, silky and elegantly floral Chardonnay in the Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet lies just to the north of Chassagne-Montrachet, a village with which it shares two of its Grands Crus vineyards: Le Montrachet itself and Bâtard-Montrachet. Its other two, which it owns in their entirety, are Chevalier-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. And still, some of the finest white Burgundy wines come from the prized Premiers Crus vineyards of Puligny-Montrachet. To name a few, Les Pucelles, Le Clavoillon, Les Perrières, Les Referts and Les Combettes, as well as the rest, lie northeast and up slope from the Grands Crus.
Farther to the southeast are village level whites and the hamlet of Blagny where Pinot Noir grows best and has achieved Premier Cru status.