Here the restrained nose is quite similar to that of the Genevrières though with the addition of a dollop of mineral reduction. The racy and strikingly well-detailed middle weight flavors possess cuts-like-a-knife delineation on the intense, balanced and sneaky long finale that just goes and goes even when it seems as though it´s finished. This isn´t as dense as the Charmes or as fine as the Genevrières or Bouchères but by combining some of all of them this is ultimately the more complete wine.

Score: 93-96 Allen Meadow (AM), Bourghound (BH), June 2019

The 2017 Meursault 1er Cru Perrières is performing well from bottle, wafting from the glass with aromas of orange blossom, citrus zest, pear, almond paste and freshly baked bread. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, satiny and elegant, with a textural and enveloping attack, a ripe core of fruit, lively balancing acids and a precise, nicely defined finish. This is a lively but expressive young Perrières that will offer a broad drinking window.

In retrospect, it was unkind of me to schedule a series of tastings in Meursault the day after the village´s famous Paulée, but Dominique Lafon and his daughter Lea—who returned full time to the domaine beginning with the 2019 vintage—were on fine form for our afternoon appointment. The crop was generous here as elsewhere along the Côte de Beaune, though Lafon says yields were lower than in 1982, and harvest began early, on August 24. Supple, succulent but incisive, this is a fine portfolio, and when I asked Dominique if he preferred 2017 or 2018, he was initially taken aback. "No one has asked me that, and it´s not as self-evident as I would have assumed," he replied. Certainly, Lafon´s 2017s are more muscular and concentrated; but that concentration lends some of the wines—most notably the Perrières—an aromatic, almost exotically musky quality, whereas at this early stage, the 2018s are beautifully classic on the nose. And the comparisons were made side by side, as we revisited several 2017s from bottle during our tasting. What is clear, in any case, is that 2017 and 2018 represent two very fine back-to-back vintages for Domaine des Comtes Lafon.

Score: 95 William Kelley (WK), The Wine Advocate (WA), January 2020