Lafarge Volnay 1er cru Clos du Château des Ducs 2010

96 points Allen Meadows (Burghound): "...nothing short of brilliant. Cool, restrained and strikingly elegant aromas include those of bright cherry, floral, spice and a whisper of exotic tea. There is terrific intensity and first-rate delineation to the refined and lacy middle weight flavors that brim with minerality on the still youthfully austere but impressively complex and lingering finish that is impeccably well-balanced. This beautiful effort is still very much on the way up and it's entirely possible that when it finally arrives at its peak, my rating will be found to be too conservative. In a word, marvelous. Drink: 2030+. (Nov 2022)"

92-96 points Fine Wine Review: "The Volnay-Clos du Château des Ducs has finesse, purity, and length – this is a prototypical Volnay with weightlessness and calm to go with the red fruits. (Issue #137; 2013)"

93-95 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2010 Volnay Clos du Château des Ducs is built on a serious core of fruit. This is an especially powerful, structured Volnay that impresses for its depth and muscle. Dark tonalities of fruit meld into spices, licorice and menthol as the aromas and flavors gain volume in the glass. A plush, resonant finish rounds things out in style. This is an utterly impeccable Volnay from Lafarge. Drink: 2020-2040. (Feb 2012)"

94 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "As is the case with almost all of the wines in the Lafarge cellars from the 2010 vintage, the Clos du Château des Ducs is a very red fruity rendition of this lovely terroir this year, with the perfume, transparency and sappy core of the finest wines of the vintage. The really lovely nose jumps from the glass in a blaze of cherries, strawberries, blood orange, a nice touch of fresh herbs, vinesmoke and a stunning base of minerality. On the palate the wine is deep, pure and fullish, with great intensity of flavor, superb focus and nascent complexity, tangy acids, fine-grained tannins and laser-like focus on the very long, transparent and reserved finish. This will be a dynamite bottle. 2020-2060. (Nov/Dec 2011)"

(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)