2008 Volnay Champans

The 2008 Volnay Champans shows lovely juiciness in its fruit. The aromatics open up beautifully on the mid-palate. Subtle, elegant and perfumed throughout, the Champans shows its full explosiveness and structure only on the building finish. Floral notes add lift on the close. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2028. I arrived at Lafon just as the last of the 2009s were being bottled. Dominique Lafon describes the 2009 harvest as a generous one, which I am sure he was quite happy about given 2008. The approach at Lafon can be best described as gentle. The wines are mostly made from 100% destemmed fruit (the 2009 Monthelie is an exception, with 25% whole clusters). The fruit undergoes a cold soak of 4-5 days followed by a maceration of three weeks on the skins. After pressing the wines are left in steel for two weeks to encourage natural decantation, and are then racked into barrel with the fine lees. New oak is about 25% for the Monthelie, 33% for the Volnay and Clos des Chenes, and slightly more for the Champans and Santenots. Vintage 2008 was not an easy one for Dominique Lafon. In Volnay, the cold spring and ensuing irregular flowering lowered yields by a third, until hail in July took care of another third. Lafon said these were the lowest yields he had ever seen in his career. The remaining fruit, though, was quite pretty, as these sublime 2008s amply demonstrate. Lafon may be best known for his whites, but readers should pay just as much attention to these superb reds. Readers can find notes on Lafon’s 2009s, which I tasted from barrel, on www.erobertparker.com. Importers: Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA, tel. (781) 352 1100; Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA, tel. (510) 559 1040; A Daniel Johnnes Selection imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY, tel. (516) 677 9300

Medium red. Crushed blueberry, violet and spices on the nose; fruitier than the Clos des Chenes and a bit liqueur-like. Then much sweeter in the mouth, with a peppery, herbal quality that complements rather than overwhelms the wine's blueberry fruit. Finishes with a firm spine, but the broad tannins coat the tongue without coming off as hard.

(racked at the end of September; just 3-1/2 barrels made, vs. a normal 7 to 10) Medium red. Closed nose hints at bitter chocolate. Fleshier and riper than the Clos des Ch e nes, with dark cherry, mocha and chocolate flavors showing a bit less precision than the Clos des Ch e nes. But this finishes broader and sweeter, with more successfully buffered tannins.