1999 Domaine Michel Lafarge, Volnay Premier Cru, Clos des Chenes 1x750ml

Robert Parker 95

Lafarge’s superb 1999 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes is just entering late adolescence, and while it remains a young wine, it is beginning to make for interesting drinking. Unfurling in the glass with notes of dark chocolate, espresso roast, orange rind, dark fruits and rich soil tones, the wine is full-bodied, deep and layered, with a classy sense of reserve, excellent concentration and refined but chalky tannins that convey a strong Clos des Chênes signature. Three decades of fireworks are just beginning! [William Kelley, 10/11/2018]

Anticipated maturity: 2018-2048

Vinous 93

Good dark red with ruby tones. Very sexy, mellow scents and flavors of raspberry, plum, spices and truffley underbrush. Wonderfully broad and full but fresh as well; at once tangy and savory in the mid-palate, spreading out to saturate the entire mouth. Very ripe but not particularly sweet, finishing with broad, dusty, very fine-grained tannins and terrific length. Frédéric Lafarge described 1999 as "an immense vintage" and he wasn’t just speaking about yields, which in the case of this wine was a very reasonable 39 hectoliters per hectare. [Stephen Tanzer, 01/03/2018]

Anticipated maturity: 2018-2032