2008 Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Meursault Premier Cru, Charmes 1x750ml

Robert Parker 91

Tasted at the IMW 2008 tasting at Vintners Hall. The Charmes ’08 has a lifted bouquet with hints of almond, white peach and dried apricot, all well defined but perhaps needing to exhibit a little more mineralite. The palate is medium-bodied with an oaky entry, good weight and tension, although I find the oak a little obtrusive towards the finish. Good length and delineation, hopefully this will gain refinement with further bottle age. Tasted March 2011. [Neal Martin, 03/01/2011]

Vinous 93

(ready for bottling) Complex nose combines peach, apple, crushed stone, marzipan and sexy vanillin oak, plus a high note of cherry. Rich, suave and concentrated but not as silky today as the Genevrieres. In fact, this very juicy wine comes across as almost lean. Best today on the very long, juicy, lemon-and-limey back end. This has a lower pH than the Genevrieres, notes Lafon, who can always come up with a terrific blend here, as he enjoys one of the prime positions in Charmes, just next to Perrieres, and is able to blend juice from 18-, 40- and 75-year-old vines, declassifying barrels he’s less happy with. This is Lafon’s flagship white premier cru bottling and a consistent winner; happily, it’s much easier to find in the marketplace than the Perrieres. [Stephen Tanzer, 01/09/2010]