The Lafarage 2005 Volnay 1er Cru is pure Chanlin, and that will be the make-up of future vintages, as a newly acquired parcel of Mitans has allowed them to reach critical mass for a separate bottling. (They reasoned that there were too many customers familiar with the “Volnay 1er Cru” label to risk replacing it with “Chanlin”.) Tart red raspberry and currant, bitter-sweet floral perfume, and pink grapefruit zest in the nose lead to an overtly chalky, brightly-fruited, subtly floral and spicy palate presence. Like most of Lafarge’s wines, this certainly doesn’t lack for structure, but the tannins are fine and don’t get in the way of its infectiously juicy fresh fruit. Revisit it in 3-5 years.
The entire Lafarge collection was predictably still in barrel when I visited in February, with even the generic cuvees due for assembly only in March. Speaking of generic bottlings, I don’t know of another domaine that has three of them, and I certainly doubt that there is one with three routinely worthy of attention even by those with the disposable income to afford premier crus.
A Becky Wassserman Selection (various importers), Le Serbet, Beaune; fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70