Comtes Lafon

Domaine des Comtes Lafon – From the founder of the Paulée to the legend of Meursault

The Domaine des Comtes Lafon is inextricably linked to the history of Burgundy and ranks amongst the most renowned producers of white Burgundy wines. The domaine has its origins in the Boch family, who between 1867 and 1869 built the estate and cellar at Clos de la Barre in Meursault . However, the true founder of the estate was Comte Jules Lafon, who married Marie Boch in 1894 and subsequently, with astute judgement, acquired first-class plots in Meursault’s finest Premier Cru sites, such as Perrières, Charmes and Goutte d’Or. His greatest coup came in 1919 with the purchase of a plot measuring just under one third of a hectare in the legendary Grand Cru Le Montrachet. However, the first bottling did not take place until 1935. Jules Lafon, who founded the Paulée de Meursault in 1923, continues to shape the image of the Domaine to this day.

Following a period of leasing the land, René Lafon took over the management in 1956 and gave the domaine its current name: However, its rise to international fame truly began in 1987, when his son Dominique Lafon took over the reins. He reclaimed the vineyards from tenants and converted the estate to organic viticulture, before finally switching to biodynamic farming in 1998.

The vineyards, which now cover around 14 hectares, stretch across the communes of Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Volnay and Monthélie. Planted with the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grape varieties, the vines boast a remarkable average age of around 40 years. In the cellar, Dominique Lafon adheres to a philosophy of minimal intervention: low yields, fully ripe grapes that aregently pressed and matured without filtrationin the deepest and coolest cellars in Burgundy. The proportion of new oak barrels is carefully calibrated depending on the vineyard and vintage – ranging from 25 to 40 per cent for the Premier Crus up to 100 per cent for the Montrachet.

The result is wines of exceptional finesse, elegance and longevity, which reflect the unique terroir of each individual vineyard with unrivalled precision. Dominique Lafon, who retired at the end of 2021 and handed the domaine over to his daughter Léa and his nephew Pierre, has made the Domaine des Comtes Lafon an undisputed benchmark for great Burgundy wines.