2010 Volnay Santenots du Milieu

Mid crimson. Smells like burgundy! (Not like most of the Pinot Noirs from all over the place that I have been tasting.) Intense, sweet nose. Lots of charm; hint of smoke. Very smooth and fresh. Utterly pure with quite a bit of tannin still there. Great purity. Jewel sweetness. Scrumptious. (JR)

Saturated red-ruby. Briary dark and red berries are complicated by chocolate and smoky soil tones on the nose. Hugely rich, creamy and seamless, with wild small red berries and smoke dominating. Excellent balance and breed here; ethereal but at the same time sharply delineated. Rich, smooth tannins come on late and are thoroughly buffered by the wine's fruit.

The 2010 Volnay Santenots is pure silk on the palate. It reveals striking suppleness and mid-palate pliancy in its expressive red berries, plums, flowers and licorice. This is an inviting, totally alluring wine graced with tons of sheer sexiness. A voluptuous, creamy finish takes things to their logical conclusion. There are no hard edges in this exceptionally elegant, polished Volnay. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2034. There are two recurring themes every time I taste with Dominique Lafon; this is always one of the top visits in Burgundy, and there never seems to be enough time to explore all of the nuances in each of these wines. Lafon was fortunate to escape the vintage with just 20% lower yields than 2009, which here translates to 32 hectoliters per hectare as compared to 35 in a normal year and 40 in an abundant year. The malos were very, very slow. In fact, there were a few barrels still finishing their malos in early December, 2011. The 2009 reds have also turned out beautifully. I will report on those wines in the April issue. Importers: Classic Wine Imports, Norwood, MA, tel. (781) 352 1100; Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA, tel. (510) 559 1040; A Daniel Johnnes Selection imported by Michael Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY, tel. (516) 677 9300