Wine: 2000 Volnay

Producer: Domaine Comtes Lafon (Meursault)

Comment: (From declassified Clos des Chênes, young vines Santenots and Champans.) The decision to declassify the upper level fruit into a villages leve wine is ample testament to the quality-first philosophy at Domaine Lafon, and the additional aging in cask has benefitted this enormously as it is substantially better in bottle than it was from cask. Exuberantly fruity, clean and bright, with classic Pinot Noir aromas followed by light to barely medium-weight, delicious flavors that offer good richness, fine flavor intensity and quality length. There isn't much structure, yet this is simply delicious and finishes with a sappy, subtle and nicely complex finale. As an aside, the restraint displayed by the Domaine to resist trying to over-extract what clearly wasn't in the grapes to begin displays a keen grasp of the quality of the fruit as well as a clear vision of how to get the best from limited raw materials. The 2000 vintage in Volnay was horrendous due to climatic factors, yet this is brilliant in its style. This may be better in a year, but it's so good now that there is little point in waiting for long. 88/now

U.S. Importer: Various.

Suggested Price: $35 (this can be found for around $30 when discounted)

Important Note: Burghound.com has no financial relationship of any kind with Domaine Lafon or with any of its importers.

Each week we feature a different Burgundy. While there will be a mix of vintages, most wines featured will be those that can normally be found at a variety of fine wine retailers. Each wine will be described and rated with a suggested window of peak drinkability indicated after the numerical score. Prices shown are estimated retail in the U.S., but prices do of course vary widely depending on the retailer.