Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon

Dominique Lafon had been eyeing land and property in the Maconnais for some time before he eventually bought some cellars and vineyards around the village of Milly. Here he recognised an opportunity to produce fine wine, terroir-rich, wines that would not cost the earth. The quality and attention to detail is the same here as it is at the Domaine des Comtes Lafon estate in Meursault. Farming is biodynamic, fermentation is in tank plot by plot, and ageing is tailored to each terroir, in a mixture of steel tanks, wooden foudres, and demi-muid oak casks. Dominique has a wonderful spread of vines at his disposal from accross the region, showing how diverse and interesting the Maconnais can be. From the old vines of Viré-Clessé producing floral, expressive wines to the more mineral intensity of Macon-Milly, and the racy and intense en Chatenay Pouilly-Fuissé vineyard of Vergisson.

2017 Vintage

The wines go from strength to strength here. Not only are these beautiful Mâconnais wines well made and delicious in their own right, becoming ever more precise and vivid with each passing year, but each vineyard plot’s individual characteristics become clearer too. These are Mâcons with such individual and diverse personalities, showing the potential of the region to be a source of more than simply nice, good value wine, but a place to find wine with a bit of terroir and character to it. The wines were all bottled between July and August 2017, after ten months ageing in a mixture of demi-muids, fût, foudres and cuves. It was a dry year and a smaller crop than 2016, but it’s a vintage Dominique Lafon loves “Its a very ‘Mâcon’ vintage, that is to say really generous wines with expressive fruit.”

2018 Vintage

These wines were all bottled between July and August 2019, just before the 2019 harvest, after ten months ageing in a mixture of demi-muids, fut, foudres and cuves. The 2018's express the sunny, warm nature of the vintage but also talk plenty of terroir.

2019 Vintage

Starting on the 6th September and finishing on the 20th, this was a late vintage by recent standards thanks to a protracted flowering. However, by the time vintage arrived conditions were warm and so ripening went very quickly – as it has increasingly been doing over the last few years. As Dominique points out “you have to be very precise (with picking dates), within two days a plot can go from ripe to overripe, this used to be 4–5 days. This is important as I don’t stand for over ripeness in Chardonnay, it means the wines all taste the same.” Dominique has recently been joined by daughter Léa and nephew Pierre at the estate. In the last few vintages they have witnessed the impact of the domaine’s twenty years of biodynamic farming, Léa noting “our biodynamic practices help the vineyards cope better with extreme heat and extreme weather conditions.” Indeed these 2019s convey a real sense of poise and stability, for despite great richness and concentration they remain fresh and balanced. In terms of comparison to other vintages, Dominique has to look back a couple of decades to find something similar “in a way, (2019) could look like vintages that we used to pick late when we had good ripeness, because they have that feel and fleshiness; vintages like 2002 and 1992, you could feel the warmth in them but at the same time you could feel the freshness and intensity.”

2020 Vintage

We’ll see, but 2020 seems like the perfect vintage, good balance and easy to make!” says Dominque Lafon’s nephew, Pierre – who has been taking increasing responsibility at this estate. He says this with good reason, for, in our view, these Macons rival their great 2018s, and in one or two instances surpass them. Harvest was early, beginning on the 22nd August, and had all but finished by the end of the month, save for the habitually late-ripening Macon Milly that was picked at the very beginning of September. Concentrated grapes and a decent crop have meant wines of intensity, acidity, ripeness and freshness. The fruit profile is sunny and open, traits they have displayed from the very beginning, and as such the Lafon’s have tried to tighten and harness this fruit by ageing the wines in a gently reductive way – keeping them sur lie and disturbing them as little as possible.

2021 Vintage

Yields at Lafon’s Mâcon estate were tiny in 2021, due to frost damage exacerbated by spring hail, so much so that the Clos du Four was the only single vineyard cuvée produced. The Clos de la Crochette, Le Monsard and En Chatenay were all mixed into the respective Mâcon-Chardonnay, Mâcon-Bussières and Pouilly-Fuissé blends. Harvest began at the same time as in Meursault, the final week of September, but lasted 15 days – such is the difference in ripening between their myriad plots. After a famously grizzly summer, vintage conditions were excellent – Mâcon dodging the one day of rain that they experienced in Meursault. These are lively Mâcons that marry racy freshness with southern sun-kissed fruit. The wines were all bottled in July 2022, except the Pouilly-Fuissé which was bottled in October 2022.

2022 Vintage

2022 was a dry year but the vineyards “never lacked water” according to Pierre Lafon, who added “this was thanks to the weather during the previous vintage through to winter 2023. As a result the wines have good acidity.” This is a superharmonious vintage for Lafon’s splendid Mâcon wines, which exude ease, character and balance. They really highlight the great diversity and quality to be found throughout this less discovered part of Burgundy. The wines are open and generous but even-keeled, too. Alcohols are low by recent standards, ranging from 12.5 to 13 degrees. Pierre likens the wines to 2020 but considers these “juicier.” The wines were all bottled in the summer of 2023 apart from the Pouilly-Fuissé-Fuisse, which we weren’t able to taste because it was being bottled during our visit.

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    country:
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