2004 Volnay 1er Cru

"A great vintage, clearly the best since 1990," said Michel Lafarge about 2005. "And the wines are a bit more typical for pinot; they express their terroirs accurately. There is a regularity of expression all the way up the ladder of our sites." The Lafarges carried out what Michel called "a moderate extraction," which included one punchdown per day. He noted that in wood or concrete vats, as opposed to stainless steel, the temperature descends more slowly at the end of the fermentations, which allows several days of further maceration without any need for intervention. When I asked Lafarge if he did some whole cluster fermentation in 2005, he said no, but noted that with the gentler destemmer the estate now uses, more whole berries go into the vat. "But skins don't bring anything good," he maintained. (A Becky Wasserman Selection, imported by Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd., Lake Success, NY; Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, LA; Vinalia Imports, Camarillo, CA) Also recommended: Volnay Vendanges Selectionnees (86).

Michel Lafarge told me that he did a pass through the vines to eliminate the worst of the hail-affected fruit, then harvested in two passes, which made it much easier to vinify with only the healthy material. The fruit was completely destemmed but not crushed, and the Lafarges then did their normal extraction. The malos were late, and the wines had been racked for the first time between May and September. Lafarge's top 2003 cuvees, which were not acidified but possess huge tannic support, are likely to be long-lived. These wines were aged in all used barrels because Lafarge wanted to preserve terroir and felt that the wines did not need wood tannins. (A Becky Wasserman Selection, imported by Martin-Scott Wines, Ltd. , Lake Success, NY; Wines Unlimited, New Orleans, LA; Vinalia Imports, Los Angeles, CA)