2019 Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Montrachet Grand Cru

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Unwinding in the glass with notes of pear, citrus oil, mandarin orange, ripe peaches, freshly baked bread and clear honey, Lafon's 2019 Montrachet Grand Cru is full-bodied, elegantly muscular and layered, with a deep and prodigiously concentrated core, striking mid-palate amplitude and a long, lip-smacking finish. In any comparison between the triumvirate of 2017, 2018, and 2019, I can see this, the youngest of the three, taking first place a decade from now. Dominique Lafon—joined by daughter Léa and nephew Pierre—began picking on September 5 and was very upbeat about the quality of the 2019 vintage, reporting yields in the region of 40 hectoliters per hectare and alcohol levels in the upper 13s. Both more concentrated and more incisive in white and finer-boned and more elegant in red, I'd give the nod to 2019 over 2018 in both colors at this address. And that is quite a compliment, as Lafon really excelled in 2018. In short, as Dominique hands the reins to the next generation, it's fair to say that the Domaine des Comtes Lafon is in very fine shape indeed. (WK) 96-98