The 2020 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes wafts from the glass with aromas of cassis, dark berry fruit and plums mingled with notions of warm spices, orange rind, rose petals and loamy soil. Medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, it's pure and vibrant, with lively acids, ripe tannins and a long, penetrating finish. It's a magical wine in the making.

The brilliant 2018 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes offers up an incipiently complex bouquet of dark berry fruit, orange rind, plums, woodsmoke, dark chocolate and rich soil tones. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, reserved and muscular, with excellent depth and concentration, structured around an ample endowment of powdery tannin and succulent acids. The finish is long and nicely defined. As is almost invariably the case, this is a serious wine for the long haul, and it numbers among the wines of the vintage in the C?te de Beaune.

The 2017 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes is the most complex and concentrated wine in the Lafarge cellar, wafting from the glass with notes of sweet plums, spices, candied peel, espresso roast and dark chocolate. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and multidimensional, with a layered mid-palate framed by an abundance of chalky structuring tannins, concluding with a long, chalky finish. The Lafarge parcel is located at the northeastern extreme of Clos des Chênes where it's more sheltered from the wind than much of the vineyard, which may partially explain why it always seems to stand apart from other domaines' renditions.

The 2016 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes, without doubt, has the most seductive bouquet from Domaine Lafarge: ample red cherry and wild strawberry fruit, suggestions of eucalyptus just underneath. It has wonderful delineation—crystalline. The palate is well balanced with fine tannin, firm in the mouth with very good structure, a delicate sprinkling of cracked black pepper furthering the complexity on the long finish. What a cerebral Volnay and what a delicious mouthful of Volnay this is going to be.