Viré-Clessé, 2016
Sweetly-scented aromatic orchard fruit on the nose. At the opposite end of the spectrum to the stony Clos du Four, this is all about fruit rather than minerals. Wonderful golden delicious apple, mirabelle and peach flavours. Sunny and generous yet so clear and refined. Wonderful. A new acquisition of Dominique Lafon’s, 7ha of vines from the Château de Viré. Only a small proportion actually goes into this wine, the rest is declassified into Mâcon Villages. The vines are old, up to 75 years-old, and are a massale selection of the rare Muscat variety of Chardonnay.
critic reviews
The 2016 Vire-Clesse wafts from the glass with notes of musky peach and dried white flowers, framed by sublet reduction. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, tense and racy, with good depth at the core and an attractive sense of completeness. It will need some time in the cellar to unwind after bottling, but it's an elegant, vibrant interpretation of the appellation that ranks as one of Lafon's best cuvees this year.
(from low-yielding east-facing 60-to-80-year-old vines planted on the mid-slope, with clay under a layer of limestone; done in one-third foudres and two-thirds demi-muids): Bright lemon-yellow. Sexy mineral-driven aromas of lemon, lime and mint. Delivers an old-vines concentration to its subtly sweet, deep flavors of citrus fruits and minerals. Sappy, tactile and dry, with the extract to buffer its brisk acidity. But this long wine has the spine for a graceful evolution in bottle.