July 8, 2006. Heritiers Des Comte Lafon, value for money white Burgundies


In this day and age we all lament at how expensive wines have become. The days where one can easily find "good and cheap" wines are gone. Back not too long ago, it was "show me what you've got and then I'll decide how much it's worth" - the consumer was boss. The tables have now turned Ladies and gentlemen. Nowadays its "pay first and then let's see...." Too often we pay up and don't see anything. As long as we can't turn back the clock - the only other way is to be better informed.

Comte Lafon of Mersault rightfully deserves its place in the highest ranks of white Burgundy makers. Some of their usual offerings have become frightfully expensive in the last few years. Well here's the scoop - there is a cheaper Lafon.

Since 1999 Lafon has conducted an operation in Macon delivering high quality and good value white wines called Heritiers Des Comte Lafon. Situated in the Macon , the property covers around 35 acres and produces 6 or 7 white wines. The viticulture has now gone organic and harvest is done by hand. The wines sees a combination of tank, wooden tuns and barrels. Light filtration is performed.

There is 1 generic and 2 village Macons :
Macon
Macon-Village
Macon-Milly-Lamartine

Then 4 "climat" wines :
Macon-Bussieres "Les Mansard"
Macon-Uchizy "Les Maranches"
Macon-Chardonnay "Clos de la Crochette"
Macon-Milly-Lamartine "Clos du Four"

The typical price of these wines are USD$20-$30 with the "climat" bottlings being a bit more. The last 2 cuvees are a bit of a step up from the village wines ( Clos de la Crochette and Clos du Four). I would challenge fellow readers to find a $20-30 bottle of similiar quality to "Clos du Four" or "Clos de la Crochette"- not impossible but not so easy I would wager. IMHO, there is too much swill in this price category.

From memory, the 2003 vintage was very good. The "La Maranches" was more immediately forward, pretty and soft. The "Clos de la Crochette" being superbly balanced with fruit and minerality and more wound up power waiting to be released - the wine needed about 30-45mins to open up. The most current vintage is 2004 (bottles have been secured tasting notes to follow soon) and is one area in Burgundy which supposedly faired better than it's neighbors on the Cote d'Or. If you ever get the chance to try it, you may be pleasently surprised. Bear in mind that Cloudy bay (Chardonnay) from New Zealand is about the same price or slightly more expensive ( to me this is quite funny or sad depending how you look at things). Bravo Dominique Lafon.

2004 Macon Milly Lamartine. Forward, flowers, hazelnuts, lively acidity and a bit of sweetness. Open it for 20 minutes. Went very well with raw fish and sea urchin. Great Summer drinking. 87-88 pts.

2004 Macon Chardonnay - Clos de la Crochette
Much tighter, nutter, more power and with slight bitter/nutty tinge. Needs 45-1 hour after opening up to get some "balance". Marginally better than the Milly Lamartine 88pts.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Strongly agree--I think it's a yummy price performer...
3:35 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adventures in Italy

Image
We only spent one night in Rome and that was the gastronomic low point of the trip. Thinking we couldn't go wrong by picking the most crowded joint in the vicinity.... oops bad luck. We just could not understand why there were so many people. Maybe they served the leftovers to the tourists? The fish was stale and the lamb was pretty sad as well. Sub-standard food, expensive and mediocre service ( restaurant pictured below). One of the best places in terms of food was in the town of Lucca. Over lunch we went to this lovely little place called "Canuleia". The fresh vegetable salad with burrata cheese was lovely. Being quite creamy on the inside, the cheese liquids gets mixed up with the olive oil and vegetables outside resulting in a lovely dressing - I'm sure it was deliberate. Last but not least, a lovely wine from Tenuta Campo di Sasso called Insiglio . You may not have heard of this outfit but this is where Lodovico Antinori went when his beloved Ornelia was sold.
Read more

Dinner with Lodovico Antinori & Tenuta di Biserno

A few years back, I mentioned about a wine that stood out on a trip to Tuscany. That wine was called Isoglio del Cinghiale. After some fact checking, the people behind this winery were none other than Lodovico & Piero Antinori - the previous owner(s) of Tenuta Ornellia. Fast forward almost 2.5 years later and we had a very special treat - dinner with Lodovico in person. Insoglio is basically their everyday drinking product. Up until 2005, it was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petite Verdot and Cab. Franc. Starting in 2006, Syrah was added to the blend and by 2007 I believe Cabernet Sauvignon was completely eliminated. Going forward from the 2007 the blend of varietals have pretty much "settled" in. Given the price point of this wine which is ~ EUR15, no complaints. More than acceptable as an everyday quaffer. Next up is the Il Pino di Biserno which is a more Bordeaux-like blend and does not contain any Syrah unlike the Insoglio. This is a much more complex wine a
Read more

Leflaive Revisited (Olivier)

Image
Domaine Leflaive has occupied a special place in Burgundy for the longest time. Regarded as one of if not THE finest white Burgundy estates. There may be healthy debate about who is on top nowadays. Whether that is Coche-Dury or Domaine D'Auvenay, Ramonet, Lafon, PYCM, Henri Boillot, Roulot but you exclude Leflaive at your own peril. What is undeniable however, is that Leflaive owns some of the best vineyards in puligny montrachet for ages and have been fully bio-dynamic for 25 years (since 1997) by this point. So why bring up a very well known domaine whose prices are already sky high?  Well here is where it gets interesting.  Olivier Leflaive is the cousin of the now deceased Anne-Claude Leflaive running Olivier Leflaive Freres. After leaving the domaine to develop his negociant business 5 plots in the below vineyards were placed on an 18 year lease to Domaine Leflaive. This lease ended in 2010 and those very same biodynamic parcels reverted back to Olivier Leflaive (see below).
Read more