Lafarge deals

[Claret]

I just got this email. If I was in a buying mode I would certainly pick up some Bourgogne.


Domaine Michel Lafarge


"[The 2006s from Lafarge] are amongst the most refined and elegant young wines I have tasted from this estate, with a purity, depth and glorious expressions of their respective terroirs that is very rare indeed. While they do not have quite the same amplitude as the 2005s at chez Lafarge, over the course of the coming years the 2006s may very well keep pace with those beautiful wines [in 2005] and in the end some may even come out on top versus their respective 2005 counterparts due to their seamless and perfumed elegance... the 2006s are so suave out of the blocks, while still retaining the depth, balance and intensity of flavor that have always made this domaine's reds such cellar treasures, that it is clear that 2006 is a very, very special vintage at chez Lafarge" – John Gilman, View from the Cellar


On the heels of last month's sale of 2006s from Domaine de Montille, we are pleased to announce yet another compelling offer from the outstanding 2006 vintage.

As we've mentioned before, the sluggish economy and "2005 hangover effect" have combined to create a backlog of great, unsold Burgundy around the globe (particularly from 2006, 2007 and 2008). While most importers and distributors were at first content to ride out the storm, vintages keep coming, and inventories are continuing to back up. Suppliers are not only starting to feel the cash flow crunch, but warehouse space is becoming a major issue. Consequently, many are willing to dump older stocks at cost or even at a loss just to pay for or make space for incoming containers.

The vintage we've been particularly keen on is 2006. Originally overshadowed by the impossibly hyped 2005s, the 2006s are finally getting the recognition they deserve. Not only do most drink younger than the backward 2005s, but many are simply outright better!

The below 2006s from Lafarge arrive next week in pristine condition and we are thrilled to offer them at essentially wholesale pricing while supplies last. We've been asked not to post these on our website, so we are only accepting orders via email, phone or in person. In order to allow ample time for everyone to respond, please allow at least 24 hours for confirmation. Priority will be given to balanced orders.

(Reviews below courtesy of John Gilman)

WHITES

"It is becoming increasingly clear with each passing vintage that the locations with a high chalk content in Beaune are brilliantly suited to chardonnay, and some very exciting white Burgundies now routinely emerge from Beaune. Across the board the white wines from chez Lafarge this year were excellent, and as highly sought after as the red wines are here, their excellent whites seem to unfairly travel a bit below the radar. Certainly in 2006 they are excellent and deserve a bit wider recognition, as they offer superb price/quality rapport." – Gilman

2006 Bourgogne Aligoté "Raisin d'Orée"- $15.99
The 2006 Aligoté "Raisin d'Orée" has turned out lovely, as the sudden ripeness that struck the white wines in this vintage has added an element of exotica to both the nose and palate of this wine. The bouquet is a blend of pineapple, very ripe apple, wet stone and spring flowers. On the palate the wine is fullish, succulent and juicy, with good length and a lovely underpinning of aligoté's mineral snap on the long, driving finish. This is really quite a serious example of aligoté. 2008-2013+. 87+.

2006 Meursault "Vendanges Sélectionées"- $38.99
The 2006 Vendanges Sélectionées is also a ringing success for the vintage. The bouquet is deep and refined, as it offers up notes of apple, a touch of pink grapefruit, pear, flowers and a lovely, complex base of limestone. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, complex and very elegant, with a fine core of fruit, fine focus and lovely length and grip on the classy finish. Again, there is no signs of excessive heat on the backend here. 2008-2020+. 90.

REDS

"In many vintages, it is customary for the Domaine Lafarge reds to start out their lives a bit bound up in their structural elements and in need of a good decade to begin to blossom fully and show their true, refined characters. However, the 2006s are so suave out of the blocks, while still retaining the depth, balance and intensity of flavor that have always made this domaine's reds such cellar treasures, that it is clear that 2006 is a very, very special vintage at chez Lafarge" - Gilman

2006 Bourgogne Passetoutgrains "Exception"- $17.99
The Exception Passetoutgrains bottlings is made up all of gamay vines that are eighty years of age and located right on the Volnay-Meursault border, on the far side of the Route Nacional. Not surprisingly, the old vines here have provided a bit more backbone to the wine, and it will need a year or two longer than the above wine to start to really blossom. The nose is deep and youthfully peppery again, with notes of cherries, wilds strawberries, coffee, vinesmoke and a lovely base of soil. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and soil-driven, with a fair bit of tannin, fine focus and good length and grip on the chewy finish. 2011-2020+. 88.

2006 Bourgogne Rouge- $19.99
The Lafarges make one of the finest examples of Bourgogne rouge to be found in all of the Côte d'Or, and the 2006 should be another in a long line of successes. Like the two Passetoutgrains, the 2006 Bourgogne rouge will need a few years in the bottle to fully blossom. The nose is a tad peppery in its youth, as it offers up notes of red plums, cherries, vinesmoke, herb tones and a nice base of soil. On the palate the wine is medium-full, tangy and a bit youthfully green and marked by its stems at the present time, with lovely length and bounce on the long, tangy backend. I have little doubt that the bit of greenness will fade as the wine gets a bit of bottle age, and this should be a very strong example of its appellation with three or four years of bottle age. 2011-2025. 88+.

2006 Volnay- $39.99
The 2006 Volnay AC was showing beautifully in March, as the wine jumps from the glass in a perfumed blend of red berries, a touch of plum, cocoa, lovely minerality and a bit of violet in the upper register. On the palate the wine is medium-full, poised and very transparent, with lovely focus and length, moderate tannins, sound acids and fine length and grip on the complex finish. This is just a lovely village wine in the making. 2013-2035. 90.

2006 Volnay "Vendanges Sélectionées"- $46.99
The 2006 Volnay "Vendanges Sélectionées" is another lovely wine in the making, with the soil transparency and plush, fresh fruit that are the hallmarks of the vintage chez Lafarge. The bouquet is a refined blend of cherries, raspberries, pomegranate, vinesmoke, cocoa and a great base of minerality. On the palate the wine is fullish, long and beautifully soil-driven, with excellent focus and mid-palate depth, and a long, ripely tannic finish. The tannins here will take a few years to fully resolve, but the wine's bounce and grip should provide impressive longevity for this old vine villages bottling. Lovely wine. 2016-2045. 91+.

2006 Beaune 1er Cru "les Aigrots"- $62.99
The second vintage chez Lafarge for the premier cru Aigrots is excellent, and clearly is one of the sleepers in the cellars these days. The lovely nose is deep, pure and complex, as it jumps from the glass in a blend of red berries, cherries, violets, coffee and a lovely base of soil tones. On the palate the wine is medium-full, tangy and beautifully focused, with excellent balance and depth, and a bit of firm tannin that will take a few years to resolve. A fine wine in the making. 2016-2040. 91.

2006 Beaune 1er Cru "Grèves"- $71.99
The 2006 Beaune "Grèves" from the Lafarge family is also outstanding, as it offers up a classy and cool aromatic and flavor profile. The bouquet is excellent, as it delivers a reserved mélange of cherries, red plums, vinesmoke, coffee beans, and a racy base of minerality. On the palate the wine is fullish, reserved and very transparent down to the soil, with lovely nervosité and a bit or ripe tannin to resolve on the long finish. Fine, fine juice. 2016-2040+. 92.

2006 Volnay 1er Cru "Mitans"- $89.99
The Mitans bottling is another recent and most welcome addition to the Lafarge lineup, and the 2006 shows excellent promise. The bouquet is similar to the Grèves in its cool and reserved profile out of the blocks, as the wine delivers scents of pomegranate and red plums, raw cocoa, woodsmoke, lovely minerality and an esthery topnote of fresh herbs. On the palate the wine is medium-full, long and soil-driven, with a lovely kernel of fruit in reserve, excellent focus and fine length and grip on the moderately tannic and complex finish. A classic Volnay in the making. 2018-2040+. 90+.

2006 Pommard 1er Cru "Pezerolles"- $109.99
The 2006 Lafarge Pezerolles also shows outstanding potential, and may well be one of the most elegant young vintages of this wine that I have had the pleasure to taste. The very pure bouquet is a blend of red and black cherries, pomegranate, orange zest, coffee and a fine base of soil. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and very elegant for young Pommard, with a powerful mid-palate, fine-grained tannins, bright acids and outstanding length and grip on the complex finish. This may well end up being the second finest wine in the cellar after the Clos des Chênes this year. A superb young Pommard in the making. 2018-2050. 92.

2006 Volnay 1er Cru "Clos du Château des Ducs"- $109.99
The 2006 Clos du Château des Ducs is also outstanding, and shows a more black fruity personality than the lovely Mitans. The bouquet is a mélange of black cherries, plums, cocoa, a touch of gamebird, a distinct topnote of roses and again, a beautiful base of minerality. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep, long and racy, with a rock solid core of fruit, beautiful focus and a dollop of chewy tannin perking up the tangy and complex finish. A lovely wine. 2018-2050. 92+.

2006 Volnay 1er Cru "Clos des Chênes"- $114.99
The 2006 Clos des Chênes should prove to be yet another brilliant vintage for this great bottling, as the wine delivers great purity, complexity and intensity of flavor. The superb and very deep bouquet offers up notes of red and black cherries, red plums, vinesmoke, gamebirds, a fine base of soil, notes of coffee and a pungent topnote of violet. On the palate the wine is medium-full, long and very transparent for the Clos des Chênes out of the blocks, with ripe, fine-grained tannins, beautiful acidity, great focus and a very long, palate-staining finish. This is not as powerfully built as the great 2005 Clos des Chênes, but in terms of ultimate quality, it may well give that fine wine a run for its money. 2018-2045+. 94.




Cheers,

Woodland Hills Wine Co.


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Woodland Hills Wine Company, 22622 Ventura Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91364
818.222.1111 or 800.678.WINE
www.whwc.com
© 2010 www.whwc.com. All rights reserved.

[JimHow]

You enabler, you. I wonder if they ship.
I remember that guy who used to post here, Roberto I think his name was, and a few others, were concerned that Lafarge wines take forever to mature.

[Claret]

Yes they do...

[JimHow]

I remember a certain transaction on a cold December Friday afternoon in midtown Manhattan an eon ago.

A man who went by the name Whuzzup__ slipped me a 1988 Domaine de la Romanee Conti La Tache for three bills in a hotel room.

Then we went out to Sherry-Lehmann at Madison/61st and got a case of some 1999 Lafarge, the basic village wine that cost about eighteen bucks. Turned me on to this estate for ever.

That was the day we first met Jaqcues and a guy named Arvind for lunch for the first time in the back room of a little French Bistro on w55th Street, sipping Mouton Rothschild and Musar.

Later that evening we met some dudes, also for the first time, by the name of PappaDoc, Jackdaw, Paul North and others....

An historic BWE day....

[Comte Flaneur]

Lafarge is rated highly by 'insiders/cognoscenti' and love most 2006 red burgs I have tried. Just as a point of reference I paid 410 GBP ex-tax (about 650-700 US) for a case of Clos Des Chenes 01 about a year ago.

[Claret]

Those were some good times in NY. The lunch at Gio's with Emil, Pappadoc, Wuzzup and his brother John et al. was a truly amazing day.

Jim, did you open the La Tache? I enjoyed the 1988 several years ago.

I just got done shoveling some snow. The temp will drop below zero tonight and tomorrow night as a polar air mass has descended upon us. I will skip some warming libation until Thursday and the long weekend, saving up my allotment of alcohol units for one of my favorite holidays.

[JimHow]

That was a great lunch Glenn. As well as that dinner that night with the '90 Margaux, '89 Montrose, and on and on and on....

I did indeed drink the 1988 La Tache:

1988 La Tache on Death Row: http://bordeauxwine.org/bwe/new/1/45231/

[marcs]

$63 to $115 for Premier Cru's is a deal? Well, OK then...

[JimHow]

Yeah, I think I'm going to go for the 2008 Bouchard Le Corton Grand Cru and Beaune Greve L'Enfant Jesus in the $80 range instead....

[JCNorthway]

I think PC recently had the Bouchard Le Corton and Beaune Greve L'Enfant Jesus for around $80. I've tasted both of those wines and you cannot go wrong that that price. Lafarge may be as good, or even better, but I don't have any knowledge of them.

[JimHow]

Thanks, Jon, I'm gonna get them from Sherry-Lehmann, along with the Fevre Le Clos and Dauvissat La Forest.