Professional Reviews
Burghound
BH
93
"A brooding and overtly floral nose combines notes of rose petal, violet and lavender with those of spiced plum, red currant and a whiff of earth. Lafon's Santenots is typically a fairly muscular wine but in 2016 it is more a wine of refinement though I stress that there is excellent concentration and punch on the impeccably well-balanced finish that flashes just a hint of austerity. Despite the refinement, make no mistake that this is a firmly structured wine that should be capable of aging effortlessly for years."
Antonio Galloni
AG
95
"these vines produced just 11 hectoliters per hectare in 2016): Healthy dark red. Fully ripe aromas of kirsch, boysenberry and dark chocolate. Quite rich and voluminous for the vintage, a step up in sweetness from the Champans. This seamless, juicy, perfectly balanced fruit bomb is not at all clenched or overextracted. Finishes with superb palate-saturating length and wonderfully refined tannins. It's quite striking today the way these wines in fûts maintain perfect clarity. When I asked Lafon to compare this wine to a previous vintage, he responded that he'd have to go back to 1985 or 1978." -Vinous
Robert Parker
RP
94
"Aromas of dark cherries, incense, baking chocolate and rich soil tones introduce the 2016 Volnay 1er Cru Les Santenots-du-Milieu, a medium to full-bodied wine with superb depth and dimension, juicy balancing acids and powdery structuring tannins. The finish is long and sapid. It's an excellent Santenots that has really fleshed out since I tasted it from barrel."
Decanter
D
92
"Lafon’s holdings in Santenots produced a mere 19 barrels in lieu of a more typical 60, but the ensuing cuvée is excellent, opening in the glass with a classic bouquet of cassis, wild plum and meaty bass notes. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, with a firm but fine-grained chassis of tannin and a deep, vibrant core of fruit. This is always quite an authoritative, structural wine, but the balance in 2016 is promising. Drinking Window 2028-2045."
