Legend Dominique Lafon Officially Retires

After nearly 40 years at the helm of Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Dominique Lafon has hung the pipette and has officially retired from his function as winemaker of the legendary domaine. His daughter Léa and his nephew Pierre are the new generation in charge of the iconic estate. Dominique launched a separate négociant business in 2008 under the label “Dominique Lafon” and he will focus on that project from now on. The Lafon family established itself in Meursault as far back as the late 19th century. Back then, it was Jules Lafon, Dominique’s great grandfather, who was wise enough to buy some of the best plots in the appellation, including a spot in the supreme Montrachet Grand Cru.

Dominique certainly inherited a prime domaine but his personality, talent and hard work proved that he was the right person to take over in the early 1980’s. Always questioning himself, he continually experimented and faced challenges such as the tricky premature oxidation white Burgundy started to struggle with thirty years ago. His honesty and open mind pushed him to consistently try to tweak details here and there. For example, Dominique decided to switch to biodynamic practices entirely. He also switched to using exclusively Diam corks for the whole production with the 2013 vintage. A visionary, he was also among the first ones to look outside of his hometown of Meursault, starting with the southern tip of Burgundy where, in 1999, he bought great parcels in the Maconnais where his wine label “Héritiers du Comte Lafon” still produces delicious and zippy whites. Dominique also consulted for wineries around the world, in Oregon for example, at Evening Land and more recently with MS Larry Stone of Lingua Franca.

Our team decided to honor the man with a wine dinner last week and to change things up a bit, we thought of pairing his Meursault and Volnay with the superb food of Korean joint Atoboy. The lineup was very successful and flawless.

The three first courses were built on three verticals of 2012, 2009 and 2007. First with Charmes, then Genevrières and finally the unmistakable Perrières.

Overall, I was particularly impressed with the 09’s. Such a warm year typically meant Chardonnays that lacked acidity and freshness. Not at Lafon. all three Meursault were really clean and airy without great texture. 2012 is a strange vintage for white Burgundy and impossible to judge as a general style for the region. Although, if there is one common thing to say for all producers is that they struggle with challenging weather conditions, reducing their yields dramatically. Once again here, Lafon struck gold with wines that are singing and pure. The Genevrières really displayed the floral tones it is famous for.

Finally, 2007 kept its promise of a great vintage. I adored the mouth watering quality of the wine where the acidity makes you salivate but the sugar immediately coats your palate, leaving an irresistible fruity, candy feeling.

It was also a fascinating educational experience to distinguish the difference between Charmes, Genevrières and Perrières in such an ideal context.

Moving on to the reds, the focus was on the 2009 vintage, covering three Volnay climats: Champans, Clos des Chenes and Santenots du Milieu. Once again, each climat was true to its identity, with Champans exhibiting a lighter profile and delicious small red fruits, Clos des Chenes perfectly balanced and aromatic while Santenots, the “hybrid” climat that also covers the Meursault appellation, was tighter and more tannic.