2020 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru "Les Charmes"

The 2020 Meursault 1er Cru Charmes is brilliant, offering up a complex bouquet of pear, crisp stone fruits, clear honey, baking spices, wheat toast and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, deep and taut, it's extremely concentrated, with racy acids and an abundance of chalky structuring extract. This site has really excelled this year. Dominique Lafon celebrated his official retirement in December 2021, after 37 years at the domaine, and is handing over the reins to daughter Léa and nephew Pierre, even if he will surely still be on hand to help the new generation for many years to come. He can reflect with satisfaction on an important career, as the first generation of the Lafon family to become a farmer and grow the grapes he vinified and as one of his generation's leading pioneers of organic farming. And he can certainly be satisfied with the 2020 vintage, a terrific success at this address. As the accompanying notes attest, I was very impressed, and special mention is owing to the best set of red wines I can remember tasting here. (WK)