1996 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 1er Cru "Clos des Chênes"

“The 1996 Volnay “Clos de Chênes” from Domaine Lafarge is a gorgeous wine in the making. The bouquet has blossomed beautifully, though the palate still will want a bit more patience to fully deliver generosity. Today, it is the nose that takes center stage, offering up a lovely blend of red and black cherries, dark chocolate, mustard seed, gamebird, a complex base of dark soil tones, woodsmoke and hints of the violets to come with further bottle age. On the palate the wine is young and superb, with a full-bodied and very well-balanced format, a fine core, ripe, seamless tannins and a long, nascently complex and tangy finish. I love the refined profile of this wine, which still needs further bottle age to really reach its plateau, but which is already showing its excellent potential without any caveats.” (09/2018)

“Tasted at the Clos des Chênes vertical in London, the 1996 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes is one of the more successful wines of what turned out to be an unpredictable vintage. Now approaching two decades in age, it has come into its own with an exuberant bouquet: wild raspberry, scorched earth, red plum and cold limestone scents that all leap from the glass whilw maintaining their delineation. The palate is medium-bodied, fresh and linear - "correct" you might say and yet with disarming focus and vigor. It segues into a masculine, tobacco finish that echoes the Médoc in a strange way, and one is left with the overall impression that this 1996 could benefit from further bottle age. What an excellent wine from Michel and Frédéric Lafarge. (NM)” (03/2016)

“Lightening at the rim but with no bricking. The cool, pure and airy nose displays some secondary characters though the earthy and spicy red berry fruit profile is still relatively primary. There is good density to the medium-bodied flavors in the context of what is typical for the '96 vintage along with ample minerality that emerges on the still very firmly structured and moderately austere finale. As is often the case this is notably robust and again particularly so for the vintage and if you're tempted to try a bottle anytime soon I would strongly suggest doing so with food as it will help to round off the edges. I would further observe that while the '96 Clos des Chênes will live for another 50 years I am not entirely sure that it's ever going to completely harmonize.” (11/2019)

“Good deep red. Precise, highly aromatic nose of cherry and licorice. Pure, penetrating flavors demonstrate impressive clarity. Structured and firm but not at all dry. Finishes with firm but fine tannins and subtle length. This is lovely, cellarworthy Volnay. (ST) 92+” (03/1999)