Côte de Beaune 2021: New Releases

The vines for this Aligoté are the grand old age of 87. They have produced an incredibly textural wine with rich concentration of red apple and bright saline energy. Fantastic.

Produced in every vintage since the foundation of the domaine, this 50/50 blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay, produced from co-planted vines, is one of Burgundy’s bargains. The vines are now aged between 100 and 103 years. Fortunately they ripen at the same time, and are picked together. The wine has an energetic and fresh sour cherry character, with a light body, and fine-grained slightly crunchy tannins. Delicious

The 2021 Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Aigrots wafts from the glass with an elegant bouquet of cherries, plums and cranberry fruit. On the palate, it's classic Pinot with slightly crunchy red fruit, terrific depth at the core, silky tannins, and a long, lingering finish.

The Lafarge parcels lie on the Volnay side of the village, naturally. This is the only Meursault cuvée made in 2021. It is has a pretty floral, honeycomb, pear and white peach nose. The palate is textured with a bright freshness, and a long, sophisticated saline length.

In 2021, due to the effects of the frost just one cuvée was made, from all four vineyards. Even with this blending, just 11 barrels were made, with grapes destemmed by hand, so low were the volumes: the same as the total of the Clos du Château des Ducs in 2022. Yields were between 7 and 8 hl/ha. This has a perfumed and pretty nose with alluring notes of rose petal. Elegance personified, with perfect phenolic ripeness and fine and silky tannins. It has a texture that can only be described as lacy: so fine, so complex, intricate, and detailed, and ultimately just beautiful.

This is a blend of their lower-lying parcels of village Volnay plus some 1er Cru Brouillards. This was the only village Volnay the domaine produced in 2021. Lafarge’s Volnay is always so elegant and charming, with a perfumed, concentrated nose, and a smooth and refined frame. The fruit is definitely red here, and the wine feels poised and sweetly ripe, whilst remaining taut and fresh.

The 2021 Beaune-Grèves comes from a single parcel of 100 year old vines, the oldest that the Lafarge family owns. It has a well defined, fragrant cherry nose with a hint of herbal aromatics. The palate exhibits such balance - fine tannin, fleshy red cherry and strawberry fruit, an elegant mineral complexity, fresh acidity and a long, velvety finish. Profound.