2007 Le Montrachet, Lafon

The best Chardonnay in the World?

Who is the best winemaker in the World?  Now there’s a debate, one that would keep the Renaissance Vintners team occupied for days on end.  Strip it down to just France, or even to just Burgundy, and you can’t come up with a definitive answer.

Easier, though, is the best white wine in the World or, similarly, the best white wine vineyard in the World.  Château d’Yquem and its vineyards are going to be up there, of course, and if Robert Parker scores are something to go by, then Chapoutier’s single vineyard Ermitages should get a mention, but the winner is Le Montrachet.

The vineyard of Le Montrachet crosses the border between Puligny and Chassagne and sits above Batard-Montrachet.  Above the Puligny side lies Chevalier-Montrachet; above the Chassagne side is St Aubin’s finest vineyard: Les Dents de Chien.  Of the most important growers, Bouchard, Marquis de Laguiche and Ramonet are on the Puligny side, whilst Romanée-Conti and Lafon are on the Chassagne side.  The true label pedant will insist that “Montrachet” is on the Puligny side and “Le Montrachet” on the Chassagne side.

The prompt to all this is that we currently have five bottles of the brilliant 2007 Montrachet, Lafon available at £950 each in bond, and two of the 2004 at £770 each in bond.

Domaine du Comte Lafon’s spot of Le Montrachet amounts to just 0.32 hectares.  It is in one whole plot, at the bottom left-hand corner of the vineyard, just next to the plot owned by Romanée-Conti.  The vines are old – 80% of the vineyard was planted in 1953, the remaining 20% in 1972, and yields are very low – enough for three or four barrels – depending on the year.

Those fortunate enough to have tasted this wine will attest to its other-worldliness.  There is very little to match the intensity of Lafon’s Le Montrachet.  It is the wine that Dominique Lafon has to “work” the most in the cellar, such is its weight, its power, its intensity.  There is nothing quite like it.

Our current listings of Lafon can be seen HERE.  A full listing from Chassagne and Puligny, ordered by price so leading with the grand crus, is HERE.