2002 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay Clos des Chenes 1er Cru

The 2002 Volnay Clos des Chênes 1er Cru has a wonderful bouquet with red cherries, Earl Grey, hints of wild mint and leather. This is beautifully defined. The palate is medium-bodied with good weight, plenty of earthy red fruit with fine tension and energy towards the persistent finish. Sublime. Tasted at Sarah Marsh MW’s 2002 Red Burgundy tasting.

Very light garnet with a few little bits floating in it. Still distinctly embryonic on the nose! Mouth-filling fruity explosion on the palate suggests this will mature yet further. Great persistence. There's still a bit of fine tannin on the end. Very serious. Not come hither. I suspect that neophytes ignorant of Lafarge's reputation might find this a little off-putting because of the tannins but it's still admirably youthful. (JR)

(tasted from a 375-ml. bottle): Healthy dark red. Knockout nose offers musky, wild red berries, truffle and dried flowers, plus a balsamic nuance. Voluminous, tactile and deep; wonderfully generous and full, with the sweetness of fruit to give great pleasure right now. The very long finish features big but fine-grained tannins. This is remarkably fresh considering the bottle format; in fact, Michel Lafarge noted that the same wine from 750s was still closed. (I'm guessing that the regular bottles will go on for at least another 15 to 20 years.)