1999 Volnay Village

The rainstorm of September 12 had much more of an effect on Domaine Lafon reds than on its whites. "There were actually 70 millimeters of rain in Volnay but only 25 in Meursault," noted Dominique Lafon. "And Volnay Champans and Clos des Chenes, as well as the top part of Santenots, were affected by hail." Lafon had to harvest his pinot noir vines immediately, before rot spread further, and the Clos des Chenes grapes were not completely ripe. As Lafon has especially high standards, he declassified the Champans and Clos des Chenes into his village Volnay (he did the same thing again in 2001). Lafon's Volnay crus from the outstanding 1999 vintage, in contrast, are superb.

"The best reds I've ever made and among the best whites," says Dominique Lafon of his '99s. The crop here was not huge, adds Lafon, and the wines have intensity and freshness of flavor and great elegance, with rounder tannins than usual. As with the best '99s elsewhere in Burgundy, they simply cannot be marked down for the higher yields of this vintage. Lafon says he is now letting the grapes do more of the work: the length of the cuvaison in '99 was similar to past years, but Lafon did fewer pigeages per day extending over a longer period. I tasted the '96 and '95 Volnay Santenots after the '99 and '98. All four are outstanding wines, but the two best were the '99 and the '96.