Lafarge Volnay 1er cru Clos du Château des Ducs 1999

94+ points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 1999 vintage is one of the greatest that I have ever tasted from the Côte de Beaune, and not surprisingly, the 1999 Clos du Château des Ducs is a brilliant wine in the making. The bouquet is very deep, vibrant and classic, as it soars from the glass in a beautiful mélange of black cherries, plums, chocolate, woodsmoke, a great base of soil, fresh herbs and incipient notes of gamebird. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and very sappy on the attack, with a rock solid core, beautiful soil inflection, plenty of ripe tannins, excellent focus and great grip and bounce on the long, soil-driven and very pure finish. This is a broad-shouldered Clos du Château des Ducs that retains all of the elegance of this fine climat and offers up stunning potential. However, this is still a very young wine, and while the structural style of the vintage allows this wine to be drunk now, it is tantamount to a crime to be opening bottles today, and I would bury it in the cellar for at least another decade. There is pure magic to come. 2019-2060. (Jan/Feb 2010)"

92+ points Stephen Tanzer (International Wine Cellar): "Red-ruby. Aromatic nose of redcurrant, cherry and leather. Silky, vinous and insinuating, with bright, well-defined flavors and terrific thrust. Very youthful, firmly tannic wine with lovely purity of flavor and strong aging potential. (Mar 2002)"

92 points Allen Meadows (Burghound): "A marvelously expressive nose that is beginning to mature yet still displays relatively fresh earthy red berry fruit and spice notes that continue onto the delicious, rich and round middle weight flavors that still hold plenty in reserve while finishing with beautiful complexity and moderate structure as well as impressive persistence. An elegant wine of indisputable breed and class that hasn't quite reached it apogee yet but it is in the vincinity and it would not be a complete crime to open a bottle now if you have others in reserve. Tasted many times with consistent notes save for one bottle tasted in November 2019 that was unduly evolved. Drink: 2011+. (Nov 2009)"

Clive Coates (The World of Fine Wine): "Good color. Very lovely, frangrant nose: typical, high-class Volnay. Ripe, succulent, harmonious, and elegant. Fullish body. Rich and almost voluptuous. Vigorous. Long on the palate. Still improving. Fine. 2011-25. (Issue 26; 2009)"

(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)