About this WINE
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or.
Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.
It is quantitatively important in California and Australia, is widely planted in Chile and South Africa, and is the second most widely planted grape in New Zealand. In warm climates Chardonnay has a tendency to develop very high sugar levels during the final stages of ripening and this can occur at the expense of acidity. Late picking is a common problem and can result in blowsy and flabby wines that lack structure and definition.
Recently in the New World, we have seen a move towards more elegant, better- balanced and less oak-driven Chardonnays, and this is to be welcomed.
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Description
Vibrant, energetic, affordable, white Burgundy with the signature of one of the region’s acknowledged masters, Dominique Lafon.
In September 1999 the Lafon family of Meursault, fed up with being ‘sold out’ all the time, bought a domaine in the Mâconnais at Milly-Lamartine, renaming it Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon. Further vineyards were added in 2003 and 2010. The whole operation, based at Milly, the birthplace of the poet Lamartine, is now looked after by the talented Caroline Gon under the supervision of Dominique Lafon. This wine has been vinified partly in stainless steel vats and partly in large wooden foudres (ovals).
It is made from a blend of vineyards mostly coming from the villages of Milly, Uchizy and Chardonnay. It is bottled with a stelvin screwcap closure to emphasise the idea of a delicious fresh young Burgundy for drinking young. You can unscrew, take a glass, rescrew and put it back in the fridge for later. 2011 is a delicious vintage for Lafon’s Mâconnais wines. It was an early an d healthy crop, in part tribute to the domaine’s principles of biodynamic farming.
Jasper Morris MW, BBR Burgundy Wine Director
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