Lafarge Volnay 1er cru Caillerets 2008

94 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2008 Domaine Lafarge Caillerets is another beautiful bottle of Volnay in the making. The wine offers up a simply beautiful bouquet of strawberries, cherries, woodsmoke, spice tones, great minerality and a vibrant topnote of orange zest. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, long and tangy, with excellent mid-palate depth, a brilliant base of soil, stunning complexity and superb grip on the very long, suavely tannic and impeccably balanced finish. Another great wine that I would give at least a decade’s wroth of bottle age to simply to allow all of its nuances and complexities to meld into a seamless and velvety whole. 2018-2050. (Nov/Dec 2009)"

94 points/'Outstanding,' Allen Meadows (Burghound): "(from a parcel measuring 7ouvrées, or around .3 ha of 40+ year old vines). A superbly complex nose, indeed it's close between this and the Clos des Chênes for which possesses the most aromatic complexity. Red currant, plum, earth, spice and violet aromas marry into rich, intense and strikingly precise stone-driven medium-bodied flavors that display gorgeous purity of expression on the precise and tension filled finish that delivers excellent length. In sum, this is a wine of crystalline purity. Drink: 2020+. (May 2011)"

94 points Fine Wine Review: "Finally, the Volnay-Caillerets is pure, fine, and lacy, but with the firmness and acidity of the vintage. The wine is long and features red fruits. I’d expect to drink it 2018-2038+. (Issue #133; 2011)"

90-93 points Steven Tanzer (International Wine Cellar): "Good bright red. Delicate perfume of red cherry, minerals and violet, plus a whiff of truffle. Then juicy, tight and youthfully imploded but already displaying noteworthy purity and finesse. Finishes with a lingering juicy sweetness and firm tannic grip. This and the Clos des Chenes will really need six or seven years of cellaring. (Mar/Apr 2010)"

(Note on bottle condition: These older Lafarge wines are from a perfect French cellar, and its relatively high humidity has incurred some mold and cosmetic degradation of the labels. These cellar conditions are identical to the Lafarge cellars themselves, where bottles are not labeled until immediately prior to shipment, as they're blanketed with black mold until that point. The bottles are otherwise pristine with excellent fills and capsules. Images may be furnished upon request. -WHWC, May 2024)