Keith's Burgundy Hotline: 2010 Comtes Lafons
Tuesday, April 23, 2013 at 2:00PM | Uncorked Blog Administrator 
By: Keith Wollenberg | K&L Burgundy Buyer
Hello Burgundy Lovers,
Our usual tiny quantities of the Domaine des Comtes Lafon wines arrive next week, and I wanted to give you all first crack at them.
Please email me, and I’ll do my best to allocate the wines. As always, we have fewer bottles than we have demand, so I cannot promise to even give you the allocation, since we have so few bottles, but I’ll do what I can.
These are NOT YET here, so PLEASE EMAIL YOUR WISHES
The Reds:
2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Monthelie 1er Cru "Les Duresses", $61.99 3 per person
89-91 Burghound : This is earthier and most aromatically rustic compared to its Volnay stable mates with a pungent nose of warm earth, underbrush and cassis. There is fine volume to the relatively full-bodied flavors that possess a velvety mouth feel as the supporting tannins are well-integrated on the persistent finish. Lovely.
89 Tanzer : Good deep, bright red. Sexy oak spices, mint and menthol on the nose. Sweet, round and deep, with lovely vinosity giving shape and lift to the dark cherry and spice flavors. Offers excellent texture and palate presence for Monthelie.
2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay, $84.99 2 per person
89-91 Burghound : An elegant, pure and attractively complex nose of ripe violet, plum, spice and earth hints precedes the rich, round and nicely voluminous medium-bodied flavors that possess the same solid depth as the nose, all wrapped in a balanced and persistent finish. This will certainly age if desired but there is enough mid-palate fat such that this should please those readers who elect to pop their bottles when they're still on the young side.
89 Tanzer : (bottled in May of 2012; all of the Lafon 2010s were bottled beween April and July of 2012 owing to their late malolactic fermentations): Good deep red. Deep aromas of blueberry compote and smoke, with suggestions of superripe fruits. Thick and sweet in the mouth, with moderate nuance but plenty of energy. Finishes with slowly building length and suave tannins supported by the wine's impressive stuffing.
2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru "Santenots du Milieu", $145.00 2 per person
from 40+ year old vines planted in shallow, high clay content soil sitting on a bed of solid rock
94 Burghound: Outstanding! As was the case from cask, moderate reduction still renders the nose difficult to assess though it does not seem so severe as to suggest that it's permanent; in any event my score clearly offers the benefit of the doubt that it is not. There is plenty of energy and punch to the rich, concentrated and utterly delicious flavors that are at once generous but beautifully delineated before culminating in a balanced, explosive and gorgeously long finish. The amount of underlying material is truly impressive and the firm tannins are already well-integrated as the buffering sap almost makes them invisible. Again, assuming that the reduction isn't a longer-term issue, this should be one of the great vintages for this storied wine.
94 Tanzer: Saturated red-ruby. Briary dark and red berries are complicated by chocolate and smoky soil tones on the nose. Hugely rich, creamy and seamless, with wild small red berries and smoke dominating. Excellent balance and breed here; ethereal but at the same time sharply delineated. Rich, smooth tannins come on late and are thoroughly buffered by the wine's fruit.
The Whites:
2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault, $109.95 1 per person
from a blend of fruit that includes parcels of villages vines in En la Barre and Luraule plus the usual declassified juice from young vines Genevrières and Charmes
89-91 Burghound: Outstanding! This is restrained to the point of being almost mute at present and only aggressive swirling manages to liberate the most grudging of glimpses of what appear to be scents of apple, pear and almost invisible hazelnut and floral hints. By contrast the middle weight flavors are almost exuberant with excellent precision and punch to the lightly mineral-inflected and solidly well-concentrated finish. Lovely for its level.
91 Tanzer: (bottled in April): Good bright straw-yellow color. Stone fruits, spices and hazelnut on the nose, plus a whiff of exotic fruits. Sweet, dense and quite ripe but not at all heavy, offering lovely floral lift as well as a hint of reduction to the apricot and peach flavors.
2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault "Clos de la Barre", $129.95 2 per person
92 Tanzer : (bottled in April): Fruit-driven aromas of peach, apricot, pear and flowers. Then juicy and tight in the mouth, with strong citrussy acidity leavening the wine's mid-palate sweetness. The long, peachy finish shows lovely finesse for this bottling.
89-92 Burghound : Outstanding! Thibodaux indicated that this had just been fined before my arrival and as such the nose was difficult to read. By contrast there was good richness to the round, delicious and impressively well-concentrated medium-bodied flavors that possess excellent volume yet no lack of detail on the balanced and wonderfully long finish. A terrific villages and even a touch better than its usual outstanding quality.
2010 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru "Charmes", $209.95 1 per person
a blend of fruit coming from 35+ and 75+ year old vines all in Charmes Dessus, which is the best part directly below Perrières and abutting Combettes
93+ Points Tanzer: (bottled four days before my visit): Deep aromas of fresh apricot, orange creamsicle, vanilla and spices. Big, concentrated and rich, displaying more power and weight today than the Genevrières. Dense and silky-sweet but a bit shocked by the bottling and not currently showing the precision or length of the last sample. But this is still long on the aftertaste. Lafon notes that this wine will become more floral as it settles down in the bottle. 93(+?) points
91-94 Burghound: Outstanding! A discreet but not invisible touch of wood sets off a highly layered nose of pear, citrus, rose petal and equally discreet spice notes. There is a subtle minerality to the energetic, delineated and concentrated flavors that possess superb depth and even better length on the explosive, balanced and bone dry finish. This should amply reward a decade or more of cellar time.
A Santé,
-Keith
Mr. Keith WOLLENBERG
Directeur Commercial Bourgogne
K&L Wine Merchants
http://www.klwines.com
+1-650-556-2724 Direct Line
