2005 - Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets, Michel Lafarge

Deep red with ruby highlights. Distinctly purple aromas of blackberry, violet and menthol. Silky on entry, then considerably subtler and suaver than the Chateau des Ducs, with lovely finesse of texture and superb building fruit. Highly concentrated, young and impeccably balanced Volnay, finishing with sweet tannins and a whiplash of fruit. Much more accessible today than the Chateau des Ducs, but this too will reward extended cellaring.

From a parcel he and his son Frederic began working in 2000 but that Michel Lafarge says needed a few years of tough love and cold turkey to wean from chemical dependency, his 2005 Volnay Caillerets displays sweetly-ripe, high-toned cherry, a luscious, juicy, fruit-filled palate impression, and the most vivid and sweet finishing fruit of any 2005 in this cellar. All the while, a subtle chalkiness suffuses every aspect of this distinguished Pinot, but its pure fruit is so energetic, blazing, and sweet, that any carnal dimensions it may be harboring are for now sublimated (along with its tannins). Time will tell whether this parcel can aspire to the polish and complexity exhibited by the Lafarge Clos du Chateau des Ducs or Clos des Chenes, but considering the overall stature of the Cailleret cru, I would bet on it. The entire Lafarge collection was predictably still in barrel when I visited in February, with even the generic cuvees due for assembly only in March. Speaking of generic bottlings, I don’t know of another domaine that has three of them, and I certainly doubt that there is one with three routinely worthy of attention even by those with the disposable income to afford premier crus. A Becky Wassserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet, Beaune; fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70

Still dark crimson. Pale rim. Sweet, candied, floral notes on the nose. Really quite intense. Fresh, direct, still relatively simple fruit. Almost as though preserved in aspic! Tannins lurk but don’t dominate. Very respectable without being earth-moving. Sérieux! Wait a little while. (JR)