Burgundy/Champagne
Timed Online Auction, 11 - 23 October 2023
Burgundy & Champagne
About this Item
Domaine Lafarge, located in Volnay, was established in the 18th century and has remained in the family since. Michel Lafarge joined the family business and began working with his father in the late 1940s. Michel was a pioneer in biodynamic viticulture in Burgundy and also one of the first to start bottling his wines for export. Today Lafarge is managed by Michel’s son, Frédéric, and is known to produce some of the most sought-after Volnay wines.
This lot consists of 1 bottle each Lafarge Volnay Clos des Chênes 2012 - 2016.
Provenance
Wine Cellar Private Client
Critics Ratings
2012:
‘A fresh, ripe and restrained array of red cherries, raspberries and earth enjoy added breath in the form of gentle spice nuances. There is excellent volume and an abundance of minerality to the concentrated and overtly powerful mineral-driven, mid-palate weight plus flavors that deliver outstanding length. Note that there is a slight hint of a bitter finish and that my predicted range assumes it will dissipate with a few years of bottle age.’ - Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, 90-93/100 (Apr 2014)
2013:
‘This is notably more expressive at this early stage than it usually is with its wonderfully elegant, pure and layered mélange of various red berries, iron-inflected earth, violet and various spice elements. There is excellent intensity and ample minerality to the intensely saline, firm and lingering finish. We will see how this evolves but this appears to be slightly more pliant than it usually is though note that it will probably still require at least 10 years before it's at its apogee.’ - Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, 91-93/100 (Apr 2015)
2014:
‘This is also beautifully well-layered with its broad-ranging nose of red currant, pomegranate, earth, floral and spice-suffused aromas. As is usually the case this is both bigger and more powerful if not quite as elegant with a similar level of mid-palate concentration where the copious dry extract does a reasonably good if not perfect job of buffering the firm tannic spine on the impressively long if slightly edgy finish.’ - Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, 90/100 (Apr 2017)
2015:
‘Once again the beautifully well-layered nose is attractively fresh with its combination of essence of red berries, earth, orange-pekoe tea and impressive array of spice elements. The rich, round and imposingly-scaled broad-shouldered flavors display a taut but sleek muscularity and ample minerality that also suffuses the marvelously persistent and intricately well-balanced if notably firm finish. This is, quite simply, flat out sensational and potentially ranks with the best ever vintages of this storied wine.’ - Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, 93-96/100 (Apr 2017)
2016:
'Interestingly this is aromatically similar to the Volnay Caillerets except that it's not as spicy and much earthier. There is excellent size, weight and intensity to the big-bodied and equally mineral-driven flavors that evidence plenty of both muscle and power while delivering superb length on the very firmly structured and youthfully austere finale. This is textbook.’ - Allen Meadows, Burghound.com, 93-95/100 (Apr 2018)