2014 Beaune Grèves 1er Cru

Following a hot, dry spring and a very good early flowering, most of June brought ideal conditions, said Frédéric Lafarge. But then the devastating hailstorm on the 28th cost this estate 55% of its 2014 crop. According to Lafarge, the family's holdings in Beaune and in Pommard Pezerolles were the worst hit (they will not bottle a Pezerolles), but even the yields in their Volnay parcels were in the very low 15 to 20 hectoliters-per-hectare range. Lafarge noted that the estate's total production in 2014, 2013 and 2012 was roughly equal to their output in the copious 2009 harvest.

During a cool, gloomy July, the Lafarges did substantial work to treat the vines that had been affected by hail. Happily, good weather returned in September and the Lafarges started harvesting on the 17th, picking in good conditions."We needed to wait for phenolic maturity, which advanced steadily but very slowly," said Lafarge."And the sugar levels in the grapes did not mount." In the end, the fruit came in with potential alcohol in the 12% to 12. 3% range, said Lafarge, who described the 2014s as "pure, balanced wines with silky, enrobed tannins," adding that in some vineyards there were as many as 120 days between the flowering and harvest. Father Michel, who started vinifying in 1950, compared 2014 to 1966 and 1978 "in its precision and long growing season. The wines have an excellent mineral framework and will age for a long time," he said.

Incidentally, the Lafarges have a new venture in Beaujolais (in Fleurie and Chiroubles) and the 2014s, made from fruit picked on the late side (the Fleurie was harvested on September 25, according to Frederic) and vinified and aged in a traditional style, boast lovely purity of fruit, noteworthy energy and enticing aromatic perfume.