2020 St Véran, Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon, Burgundy

Chardonnay is often seen as the king of white wine grapes and one of the most widely planted in the world It is suited to a wide variety of soils, though it excels in soils with a high limestone content as found in Champagne, Chablis, and the Côte D`Or. Burgundy is Chardonnay's spiritual home and the best White Burgundies are dry, rich, honeyed wines with marvellous poise, elegance and balance. They are unquestionably the finest dry white wines in the world. Chardonnay plays a crucial role in the Champagne blend, providing structure and finesse, and is the sole grape in Blanc de Blancs.

Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon was established in 1999 when the famed Lafon family of Meursault purchased a small domaine in Milly-Lamartine. Their enthusiasm for the project has grown ever since, as has the domaine: today it covers 26 hectares in the most prestigious appellations of the Mâconnais, all farmed biodynamically. The estate is overseen by the energetic Caroline Gon, in close consultation with Dominique Lafon. The 2020 vintage sees the increased involvement of Dominique’s daughter Léa and nephew Pierre, both taking a keen interest in the Mâconnais project. Caroline continues to run the estate on a day-to-day basis, putting Dominique’s vision into practice. In the winery Vinification and ageing continue to move towards larger oak formats, with increased use of foudres and demi-muids. The team recognise the profile of Mâcon wines as being more generous and fruitier than those of the Côte d’Or. So their aim is to retain as much freshness as possible, and not to impart too much oak character.