2008 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay Clos du Château des Ducs 1er Cru

The Lafarge monopole 2008 Volnay Clos Du Chateau Des Ducs leads with striking buddleia perfume, kirsch, and aromatic intimations of oceanic salinity and crustacean savor. Juicy and vibrant; elegant, tenderly-fruited and polished; this is one of those wines that manages to enervate and caress at the same time, and in which bright ripe fruit is allied to a remarkable depth of elements than can only be explicated in animal and mineral terms. Overt suggestions of chalk and cherry pit lend the buoyant finish a measure of austerity, but it is so saliva-inducing and refreshing that severity is not a risk. It should last for at least 15 years. Frederic and Michel Lafarge are understandably enthusiastic about their admittedly millerandage-, hail-, and triage-reduced 2008 crop, but insisted that rot was not a significant problem. And even the hail, they report, was minimal in their portions of Clos des Chenes and Caillerets, being largely confined to certain village and generic sectors. All of the 2008s here (even of minor appellation) were still in barrel when I tasted them in March, and would, as usual at this address, be assembled only immediately before bottling. Malos were late here by the estate’s normal standards, but still largely finished by August, and the Lafarges insist that they did not have musts with unusually high levels of malic acidity, in regard to which Frederic observes that a matter of just a few days in picking date in 2008 could make a big chemical difference. Michel Lafarge opines that one needs several months after malo to let a young red Burgundy collect and express itself before one ought even to contemplate bottling, in light of which he cannot comprehend – much less agree with – the many growers who bottled 2008s during the winter. He also emphatically resists the suggestion that 2008 is, in any sense, a throwback to the old normalcy – a subject on which Michel Lafarge has to be one of Burgundy’s most seasoned experts – pointing out that there wasn’t really any need to chaptalize the 2008s, which came in largely in the upper 12s. (Alcohol levels were slightly higher in the impressive 2007s, nearly all of which were picked the first week in September.) A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet (various importers), fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70

Medium red. Restrained, complex nose melds red fruits, licorice, smoke and subtle soil tones. Creamy-sweet on entry, then lively and firm in the middle, offering a lovely blend of volume and energy. Like a couple of the foregoing wines, there's a medicinal reserve to the wine's fruit that suggests this wine will need several years of cellaring. No easy sweetness here.

Rich and round and very solid and magical. Great layers. Real burgundy! (JR)