Domaine des Comtes Lafon

The impressive building that now serves as the centre point of Domaine des Comtes Lafon was constructed by successful lawyer Jules Lafon in the 1860s, after he migrated to the area. He married Marie Boch, a born-and-bred Meursault girl, who inherited several plots of vineyards, which Lafon augmented – most notably with some vines in the prestigious Montrachet. Lafon passed away in 1940, bequeathing the estate to his sons Pierre and Henri. But Pierre died just four years later, giving rise to an ongoing inheritance dispute between his own son Rene and Henri, which was not resolved until 1956. During this time, however, Rene was able to vinify part of the crop and by 1961 the domaine began its own bottling. The remaining vines were leased out to other growers until the 1980s. By this time, Rene’s son Dominique had learned the ropes both on the estate and through his oenological studies, and in 1987 took full control of the domaine. Five years later in 1993, existing sharecropping agreements came to an end, and for the first time the Lafon family was in complete control of its property. The family’s holdings – in the best vineyards of Meursault and Volnay – are always expanding, and are now cultivated according to biodynamic principles with no use of herbicides or chemical sprays, producing some of the finest white wines in the region.