Volnay Clos du Château des Ducs, Domaine Michel Lafarge 2022

A cooler and more restrained nose is also wonderfully spicy with its more floral-suffused aromas of essence of red currant, cherry and lavender. The super-sleek and refined middleweight flavors are beautifully delineated, indeed the word chiseled comes to mind, and flash a borderline aggressive minerality on the youthfully austere, firm and focused finale that goes on and on. This is presently not quite as complex as the Caillerets or Clos des Chênes but it's a wine that always needs time to develop so a minimum of 7 to 8 years of keeping are in order. (Drink starting 2034)

This 'super-cuvée' of the Lafarge cellar comes from vines behind the winery, with which they take extraordinary pains. The grapes are all destemmed by hand. The result is a wine of superb concentration and depth, with intensely perfumed black cherry fruit aromas and earth, star anise, violets and black tea notes. The texture on the palate is lively and vibrant, with abundant extract, supple but supportive tannins, and exceptional length. The 2022 vintage is on par with the best I have tasted from this site. (Drink between 2027-2060)