Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2022 (BH94)

Allen Meadows - Burghound 94
Note: from a .52 ha holding of 85+ year old vines planted in deep sandy soil with dense but small rocks. This too is sufficiently reduced as to be impossible to fairly assess. By contrast, there is a lovely freshness and detail to the sleek, intense and equally stony flavors that possess a bit more refinement while exhibiting excellent length on the balanced finale. This isn't especially dense and while it does need to develop better depth, more should almost certainly arise with time in bottle. I quite like this as it's understated and harmonious.*Burghound Sweet Spot Outstanding!*

By Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 93
Notes of red berries, plums, rose petals and licorice introduce the 2022 Volnay 1er Cru Champans, a medium to full-bodied, lively and precise wine that's pretty and fine-boned, with melting tannins and a saline finish. The first produced under the direction of Léa and Pierre Lafon, the 2022 vintage has turned out very well at this address, delivering both quality and reasonable quantity, a welcome change after the vicissitudes of 2021. For now, no big changes are afoot, and Dominque Lafon continues to be a guiding presence—organic and biodynamic farming in the vineyards, barrel fermentation for whites, two winters' élevage on the lees for both colors, and bottling under Diam technical corks (since 2013) continue to be the order of the day. What's new this year are two attractive cuvées of Puligny-Montrachet, the fruit of a sharecropping agreement.