2008 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay Caillerets 1er Cru

Bright crimson. More restrained and introvert than the Mitans. Rather powdery/talcy on the nose. Lots of juice and structure but at the moment the flavours are still developing. Wait! (JR)

The Lafarges’ 2008 Volnay Caillerets reflects the ongoing influence of proper vine husbandry on a parcel that had been sadly neglected when they took it over in 2000. White pepper, chalk, and cherry pits seem to suffuse the tart red fruits on display here, for an austerity, brightness and piquancy more typical for this site than are many of the surprisingly winsome renditions I have encountered this vintage. This finishes with vibratory energy, saliva inducement, and sunglass-donning brightness, but don’t look here for richness, or for caresses, because it will slap you down. Give it a half dozen years in the cellar and follow it for another 8-10 thereafter. Frederic and Michel Lafarge are understandably enthusiastic about their admittedly millerandage-, hail-, and triage-reduced 2008 crop, but insisted that rot was not a significant problem. And even the hail, they report, was minimal in their portions of Clos des Chenes and Caillerets, being largely confined to certain village and generic sectors. All of the 2008s here (even of minor appellation) were still in barrel when I tasted them in March, and would, as usual at this address, be assembled only immediately before bottling. Malos were late here by the estate’s normal standards, but still largely finished by August, and the Lafarges insist that they did not have musts with unusually high levels of malic acidity, in regard to which Frederic observes that a matter of just a few days in picking date in 2008 could make a big chemical difference. Michel Lafarge opines that one needs several months after malo to let a young red Burgundy collect and express itself before one ought even to contemplate bottling, in light of which he cannot comprehend – much less agree with – the many growers who bottled 2008s during the winter. He also emphatically resists the suggestion that 2008 is, in any sense, a throwback to the old normalcy – a subject on which Michel Lafarge has to be one of Burgundy’s most seasoned experts – pointing out that there wasn’t really any need to chaptalize the 2008s, which came in largely in the upper 12s. (Alcohol levels were slightly higher in the impressive 2007s, nearly all of which were picked the first week in September.) A Becky Wasserman Selection, Le Serbet (various importers), fax 011-33-3-80-24-29-70

Good bright red. Delicate perfume of red cherry, minerals and violet, plus a whiff of truffle. Then juicy, tight and youthfully imploded but already displaying noteworthy purity and finesse. Finishes with a lingering juicy sweetness and firm tannic grip. This and the Clos des Ch e nes will really need six or seven years of cellaring.