Le Fonteny

This is just above Corbeaux but further towards the Combe de Lavaux, thus north-facing, although it gets sun all day. The topsoil is especially feeble and the underlying rock is very hard. Unsurprising then that the wine should offer both ripeness and precision, and very successfully. Drink 2023-2028.

The harvest was done early and quickly here, starting on 6th September and finished by 12th. Karine Sérafin explained that the estate was harvesting earlier than before, to keep more freshness in the wines, and also working more with leaf coverage. The old vines negated any need to green harvest and yields are up by only 20 percent from 2016, but otherwise Karine and her cousin Frédérique are intent on preserving the individuality of Christian Sérafin’s style for vins de garde, with 100 percent new oak for everything upwards from the Gevrey Vieilles Vignes.

There is a really impressive depth and breadth of fruit on the nose of this wine and whilst it is richer than the Les Corbeaux, it is not quite so elegant, despite a very fine finish.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director

The last few vintages have shown a freshening up of the Srafin style, though absolutely not at the expense of the concentration which is a hallmark of this domaine. The concentration of the fruit comes from their meticulous work in the vineyards, the fresher style from a little less extraction during fermentation. Christian himself thinks that 2010 is notably more concentrated than 2009 and as everywhere else, yields are down this year.