Vinified in older wood this year, mostly in demi-muids. Mid lemon with a little honeysuckle on the nose. An absolute beauty on the palate, with a crisper finish, though the honeysuckle continues on through. This is balanced by fresh lemon, as Clos de la Barre benefits from a lower pH (higher acidity). This will make many friends. Drink from 2029-2035. Tasted Oct 2024.

The 2023 Meursault Clos de la Barre was showing very well, delivering aromas of pear and sweet citrus fruits mingled with white flowers and toasted almonds. Medium to full-bodied, dense and layered, it's satiny and textural, with a structured mid-palate and a penetrating finish. As ever, it's built to reward some bottle age. The 2023 vintage is another success from Domaine des Comtes Lafon, now headed by Léa and Pierre Lafon, delivering both quantity and quality like 2022 before it, though in a somewhat fleshier, more extroverted style. While a few new cuvées have joined the range, for now, no big changes are afoot, and Dominque Lafon continues to be a guiding presence. Organic and biodynamic farming in the vineyards, barrel fermentation for whites, two winters' élevage on the lees for both colors and bottling under Diam technical corks (since 2013) continue to be the order of the day.(WK)

The 2023 Clos de la Barre had been racked into tank three weeks prior to my visit and was earmarked for bottling at the start of June. This is going to be a lovely example of this fine vineyard, as it offers up a complex and classy bouquet of apple, pear, a nice touch of fresh coconut, hazelnuts, a lovely base of chalky soil tones, vanillin oak and a topnote of apple blossoms. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, complex and really has a superb core of fruit, with fine soil signature, a lovely girdle of acidity and a long, precise and perfectly balanced finish. (Drink between 2027-2055)