2012 - Meursault Blanc, Domaine des Comtes Lafon

The 2012 Meursault Village, comes from 4 parcels in En La Barre, Les Crutots, Le Clos de la Baronne and En Laurale, now includes new holdings from Domaine Manuel. It has a fragrant bouquet with scents of orange blossom and pink grapefruit that is well defined, vivacious at first and then receding. The palate is crisp, a little stony and pithy on entry and then fans out nicely towards its slightly resinous finish. This is a succinct village cru from Dominique Lafon. I am a simmering ball of irritation sitting in Dominique Lafon's office watching the second hand chipping away at precious time. Where is he? Our rendezvous was 8.30am. Now it's past nine and I have to be at Rossignol-Trapet, essentially the other side of the world, at 10.15am. I should bolt out of the door. But I don't. I don't because this is Domaine des Comtes Lafon. They have what I call a "special pass of forgiveness" that is totally at my discretion and totally unfair. But that's just the way it is. He's probably stopped for a cigarette. Dominique Lafon appears just after 9:03am, suitably remorseful and the raffish rascal has so much charm that I have to resist playfully punching him on the arm and saying: "It was my fault for demanding such an early start." And so we immediately troop down to the cellars to taste the 2012s, starting with the reds that were depleted by one-third due to the multifarious obstacles mentioned all over this report. Dominique divulged that like everywhere else, there were tardy malo-lactic fermentations and that he had not racked the wines. At time of writing he doubts that he will do so. As for the whites, they were depleted by between one-third and one-half, in particular affecting Les Perrieres and Montrachet. Whereas usually Dominique has around 350 barrels in his care, in 2012 that number is around 170. Dominique gave me the minutiae of the harvest, which commenced on 14 September with the young vines in Clos de la Baronne and finished on 23 September in Montheli

Medium yellow. Sweet aromas of yellow fruits, marzipan and clove; classic Meursault. Round and fat but with a solid core of minerality underneath. Finishes classically dry.

Young vines including the Clos des Baronnes shared with Roulot but vinified separately.Floral and lemony and with lots of dry extract and substance. Wait for this! The quantity was less than half normal. (JR)