Role Reversal Lunch at La Paulée-Dujac Whites (Monts-Luisants) and Lafon Reds

Quince prepared a fabulous meal to pair with wines that were shown with great pride by Jeremy Seysses and Dominique Lafon.

• NV Delamotte Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut

  France, Champagne

  Magnum. Light, crisp, mineral, and lemony. Always enjoy this cuvée.

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• 2012 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru

  Pale. Too much sulfur. Cleaner palate. Medium weight, some wood, lively lemony acidity, slight creaminess. Over time, the bright orange that we found in all of these wines did poke through. It improves but is still stunted by the sulfur and remains slightly bitter at the end. Could be quite good if the sulfur resolves.

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• 2010 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru

  Also pale color. Complex aromatics of ripe fruit, smokiness, and white flowers. Lovely combination of concentration and laciness. Vibrant orange fruit, gentle natural sweetness, slightly lower acidity than either the 2012 or 2008, but excellent minerality. Very elegant in this context. Broadest, most open of the younger wines. I really liked this one.

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• 2008 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru

  Magnum. Light yellow. More oak toast on the nose than the others, but this is still quite discrete. More deeply pitched citrus aromas. Light to medium weight but more of a sense of density than the 2010. Intensely citric flavors with rising bitter orange and significant end minerality. Not quite as supple as the 2010, but that is simply a matter of needing more time. Outstanding.

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• 2007 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru

  Magnum. Medium yellow. Sulfur and herbs on the nose with increasing florality. Lovely, silky, middle weight feel with surprisingly powerful acidity to balance the fruit. Less citrus than many of the others. Here the sulfur does not interfere with the flavors. Elegant and delicious with beautiful cut across the palate.

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• 2006 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru

  Magnum. Medium yellow. More deeply pitched aromatics with faint orange peel in the background (there it is again!). Richer, more sucrosity than others with predominant citrus early and then some pineapple later. The acidity seems a bit low at first but asserts itself as the wine opens. Excellent roundness and length. Although it is not one of my favorites of the flight, so much better balanced than many bigger name 2006 white Burgundies.

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• 2002 Domaine Dujac Morey St. Denis 1er Cru Monts-Luisants Blanc

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Morey St. Denis 1er Cru

  Jeroboam. A shade darker than the '06 but still very healthy looking. Complicated green herb and lemon-this is the first and only wine in the flight to have secondary perfume. Perfect richness and weight, real maturity and creaminess, outstanding length. Bold blood orange and a hint of pineapple at the core. A beauty and so fine and fresh, especially for a 2002.

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• 2007 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Light clear ruby. Soil and stemminess, rose petals, and rising bright cherry and raspberry fruit which carries through to the palate. Elegant mixture of that fruit, a bit of gaminess, wood, and slight funk with great acidity but low tannins. Could benefit from a few years, but delightful now because of its clarity of fruit.

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• 2007 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Champans

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Ever so slightly fuller ruby than the Clos des Chenes. The nose is stalkier than that wine with anise, creosote, and green herbs. Beautiful gentle sweetness of red fruit and strong blood orange, light wood char, and a little less acidity than the Chenes has. Floral and delicate, it expands to show baked cherries, some blueberry, low tannins, and a fading, soil filled finish. Seductive and ready to go.

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• 2007 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-Du-Milieu

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Magnum. Deepest color of the set of 2007's. Very complex aromas-cranberry, florality, fennel, clove, and the barest char. Not as overtly fruity as the other two, but serious and greater depth. Blacker tinged fruit in the mouth, some blueberry, attractive spiciness, and that citrus top note again. Long, tannic finish. This is the one wine that begged for more time in bottle. Fantastic Volnay.

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• 2000 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-Du-Milieu

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Magnum. Deeper dull red than the 2000 with some browning. Funny nose-stemmy, green elements, and boiled beets. Medium weight, low acidity, plenty of soil, and an almost artificial, brown sugar sweetness. Both the nose and palate make me wonder if this was chaptalized since the sweetness just sticks out. Some late secondary perfume. Fully resolved at this point and better with food than it was on its own.

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• 1991 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-Du-Milieu

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Magnum. Lighter ruby, maturing rim. Not completely clean nose-pungent camphor, barnyard, and celery stalk. Musty, gamy, medium bodied wine, much more prominent acidity than the 2000. Interestingly, the fruit underneath remains strong and sweet, but the finish is gritty and a bit impure. This was the outlier of the day in terms of its real funkiness. Not very enjoyable.

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• 1985 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay 1er Cru Santenots-Du-Milieu

  France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Volnay 1er Cru

  Light tawny center to watery rim-this looks fully mature. Flowers and green herbs that only become more noticeable over time. Very complex flavors-undergrowth, strawberry and plum fruit that is remarkably sweet and persistent, some soil, and faded tannins. This supple, elegant, completely expressed wine was prototypical Volnay and a great way to finish an extraordinary lunchtime tasting event. Amazing how well some of these delicate 1985's have lasted.

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I had rarely tasted Dujac whites, and these were a minor revelation in their freshness (helped by large format bottles), familial resemblance vintage to vintage (love that thread of citrus!), zesty acidity for Côte de Nuits white wine, and their judicious use of oak.

The Lafons were more of a mixed bag, but the 2007 wines were just beautiful for current and near term drinking and clearly exceeded the expectations of this vintage. It was also a great treat to taste the '85 Santenots, an autumnal wine that is going out in strong fashion.