2015 Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Volnay Premier Cru, Champans

The 2015 Volnay 1er Cru Champans was picked on 1 September and the fruit was completely de-stemmed. It has a precocious bouquet with oodles of red cherry, kirsch and blueberry notes that are nicely controlled, seeming to gather momentum in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied, velvety smooth with sensual blueberry and strawberry fruit, a hint of orange sorbet and cherry liqueur on the finish. This is a gorgeous Volnay Champans and it would not surprise me if it ended up being Dominique Lafon's finest 2015, white or red.

(entirely destemmed; from a yield of 30 hectoliters per hectare): Full red-ruby. Deep, ripe aromas of medicinal black cherry and dark chocolate; smells backward after the Clos des Chènes as there's more obvious minerality here. Plush, broad and sweet, with excellent acidity giving the very ripe raspberry and dark cherry flavors an impression of tension. Beautifully balanced wine with real energy, and even a touch of austerity. Finishes brisk, red-fruity, long and satisfying. Two-thirds of this vineyard is at least 95 years old, according to Lafon.

Cask sample. In a second-year barrel. Rich and dense with lots of sour-cherry fruit. Lots of fun at the moment. Dominique Lafon says it has opened out only since late October. (JR)