Domaine Michel Lafarge: Tasting three decades of Clos des Chênes

In November of most years, Richard Orders, a wine collector based in Hong Kong, generously opens up Burgundy bottles from his extensive collection to share with a select group of like-minded individuals.

Scroll down to see Robin Kick MW’s Domaine Michel Lafarge tasting notes and scores

Verticals of one or two vineyards are highlighted from a given domaine and often the producer is present in order to share his or her thoughts, shed light on the harvest conditions or winemaking.

The tasting unfolds at Becky Wasserman and Russell Hone’s inviting home in the picturesque hills outside of Beaune.

The venue cannot be a better fit. For many years Becky has worked tirelessly promoting the wines of the region – most notably those of this tasting’s featured domaine, earning her the well-deserved Decanter’s Hall of Fame award in 2019.

The most recent tasting presented wines from Domaine Michel Lafarge and all three generations were present – Michel, his son Frédéric and Fred’s daughter, Clothilde, who joined him in the cellar in 2018.

Lafarge history

One of the greatest red Burgundy producers of the Côte de Beaune, the Lafarges handcraft some of the most exceptional wines from Volnay, Pommard and Beaune.

Within their 11.6ha of vines, they produce 15 different appellations – both red and white – of which four are premier crus, including their iconic Clos des Chênes and monopole Clos du Château des Ducs.

Like many Burgundians, the family grew grapes and sold their wine in bulk long before they bottled their own wines. It was not until the late 19th century when the domaine started to take more serious shape with the purchase of Clos des Chênes, followed by Clos du Château des Ducs in 1900.

The estate ultimately became Domaine Lafarge after a daughter, Marie, married Henri Lafarge, who was the first member of the family to begin domaine bottling in 1934. Their son, Michel, began helping make the wine in 1949, taking the reins one year later when his father became the régisseur (estate manager) at the Hospices de Beaune.

Michel remained at the domaine for seven more decades, though his own son Fred began assisting him in 1978, eventually taking the lead years later.

Winemaking style

In terms of winemaking, one could describe their wines as more traditional and the domaine has long followed the philosophy, ‘less is more’. All bunches are destemmed and since 2016, Clos des Château des Ducs (and sometimes a few other wines) is even destemmed by hand with the use of a ‘claie ronde’, a large open-knit sieve that was more common in the 19th and early 20th centuries before mechanisation settled into the region.

They also prefer to keep the berries whole (not crushed) when possible and use pump-overs and daily punch-downs for extraction.

Very little new oak is used so that the individual terroirs surface. The resulting wines tend to be structured and are often built to age, needing a number of years to truly open. But once they do, they can be glorious.

The verticals

For the tasting, 16 vintages of Clos des Chênes Premier Cru, were featured with an added bonus of four vintages of Clos du Château des Ducs Premier Cru.

Clos des Chênes, the domaine’s grandest wine, hails from one of the greatest terroirs, and the largest vineyard, in Volnay. It is generally viewed as the longest-lived of the two crus and is often the more taut and powerful.

Clos du Château des Ducs lies conveniently behind the winery and while it too can produce mineral, formidable wines, they also are generally more enveloping and open from an earlier age.

Overall, the tasting revealed some impressive highlights and a few disappointments some of which probably had more to do with bottle variation, shipping or storage rather than the wines themselves.

But besides the individual bottles, what stood out the most was that this vertical tasting of the Lafarge wines was to be Michel’s last. He sadly passed two months later at the remarkable age of 91, in January 2020, after an astonishing 70 vintages.

A vigneron of immeasurable kindness, wisdom, humility and knowledge, he will be missed for many years to come.

*Most bottles tasted were purchased upon initial release and stored in the UK though some were sent to Beaune via Hong Kong. Three wines came from the domaine’s cellars.

See Robin Kick MW’s Domaine Michel Lafarge tasting notes and scores

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