Domaine Comtes Lafon Volnay Champans 2022 Bouteille (75cl)
The Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2022 is a red Burgundy wine made from 100% Pinot Noir, coming from the Champans parcel in the Volnay appellation. The Wine Advocate awards it 91-93/100 and Jancis Robinson 17/20, with a drinking window from 2028 to 2038. Critics describe a precise and balanced wine with notes of red fruits, rose, and licorice, driven by lively freshness, fine tannins, and a saline finish.
La bouteille proposée
- Size
- Bottle (75cl)
- Packaging
- Loose
- Label Condition
- Perfect
- Fill Level
- Perfect
- Capsule Condition
- Perfect
Identité du vin
- Couleur
- Red
- Pays
- France
- Région
- Bourgogne
- Appellation
- Volnay
- Producteur / Domaine
- Domaine des Comtes Lafon
- Parcelle / Cru
- Champans
- Millésime
- 2022
Cépage et assemblage
- Grape Variety
- 100% Pinot Noir
Domaine des Comtes Lafon
The Domaine des Comtes Lafon is a family-run estate based in Meursault, in the heart of the Côte de Beaune. Its vineyards are spread across Meursault, Volnay, Monthélie and Chassagne-Montrachet, notably including plots in Meursault’s Premier Cru vineyards and Montrachet’s Grand Cru vineyard. The estate is currently run by Léa and Pierre Lafon, whilst Jérôme Delassus is listed as cellar master.
- Owner
- GFA du Domaine des Comtes Lafon (famille Lafon)
- Maître de chais
- Jérôme Delassus
Histoire du domaine
The estate’s history is linked to Jules Lafon, a native of Tarn-et-Garonne, who was transferred to Dijon in 1887 as part of his role at the Administration of Registration, Estates and Stamps. In 1894, he married Marie Boch, who came from a family of wine-growers and merchants in Meursault, marking the start of his involvement in the village’s wine industry. Having become a lawyer, Jules Lafon was granted the title of Papal Count in 1918, which would give the estate its name. He gradually acquired several Meursault Premier Crus, including Genevrières, Perrières and Charmes, as well as a plot in Montrachet in 1918. As mayor of Meursault, he played a part in reviving the Paulée de Meursault in 1923, before giving up his legal practice in 1931 to devote himself to the estate. Following his death in 1940 and that of his son Pierre in 1944, the estate – which was then largely run on a sharecropping basis – was on the verge of being sold. René Lafon took over the management in 1956, and the entire production has been bottled at the estate since 1961. Dominique Lafon succeeded his father in 1984 and gradually reclaimed the plots previously entrusted to sharecroppers, a process completed in 1993. Under his leadership, the estate adopted organic farming and then biodynamic practices between 1995 and 1998. Léa Lafon joined the estate in 2019 and Pierre Lafon in 2020; they now run the estate, with Jérôme Delassus as cellar master.
Champans
Champans is a climat of Volnay located mid-slope, in the center of the appellation area, and officially recognized for the Premier Cru designation. Its south to south-east exposure, gentle slope, and stony cover favor drainage and sunshine. The upper part of the climat is more calcareous and light brown, while its lower part becomes more clayey, with brown to reddish soils. The substrate is notably described as a crinoidal limestone slab known as "pierre nacrée".
- Vineyard commune
- Volnay
- Origin of the vineyard name
- The name is thought to be formed from "champ" (field) and "pans" (slopes), referring to a field established on a slope.
- Exposure
- South to south-east
- Altitude
- 250–260 m
- Slope
- Gentle slope, mid-slope location
- Soil
- Fairly low-clay, stony calcareous brown soil in the upper part; more clayey, brown to red, in the lower part.
- Subsoil and geology
- Crinoidal limestone slab, described as a slab of pearly stone ("pierre nacrée").
Le domaine dans cette parcelle
- Estate holding in the vineyard (ha)
- 0.520000 ha
- Indicative vine age
- Two-thirds planted in 1922 and one-third in 1989; the vines from 1922 are presented as the oldest of the estate.
Histoire de la parcelle
The climat appears as "En Champan" in the 1507 rental roll of the royal domain, among the Volnay vineyards formerly linked to the ducal estate. Champans features today in the official specifications of the AOC Volnay among the climats that can accompany the Premier Cru designation; the Volnay appellation was recognized on September 9, 1937.
