Fine depth of colour. The nose from the start suggests that this is a complete wine. Plums as much as dark raspberries, with its clay based weight, a few tannins but in proportion to the fruit, just the right thread of acidity, a fabulous weighty but balanced Volnay Santenots.

Generally the biggest and boldest of Dominique Lafon's line up of Volnays, sourced from a 3.9ha vineyard in the commune of Meursault that produced 49 barrels of wine in 2018. Focused, taut and layered, it has fine, scented one-third new oak, plenty of minerality and freshness and layers of black cherry, plum and raspberry fruit topped by pepper spice.

2018 is unequivocally a great, great year for the Lafon family’s Santenots du Milieu, and I would not be surprised to see this gorgeous young Volnay eventually age along the lines of the stellar 1978 version (which remains the single finest mature red wine from Comtes Lafon that I have been fortunate enough to drink). The bouquet is pure and stunning, soaring from the glass in a blend of black cherries, sweet dark berries, woodsmoke, bitter chocolate, a complex base of dark soil tones and vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and shows off outstanding mid-palate depth, with superb focus and grip, a fine sense of sappiness, great backend mineral drive, fine-grained tannins and a very, very long and complex finish. This will be a great bottle of Volnay in due course.

(92 - 94+ points) Lafon's finest red this year is, as usual, the 2018 Volnay 1er Cru Les Santenots-du-Milieu, a wine that combines the finesse of the Clos des Chênes with the power and depth of the Champans. Exhibiting a complex bouquet of cherries, smoky wild berries, rich soil tones, violets and dark chocolate, it's medium to full-bodied, lively and concentrated, with refined tannins and a sense of controlled power.- WK

A markedly riper yet agreeably fresh and spicy nose somewhat grudgingly reveals its aromas of cool and pure black currant and dark cherry that are trimmed in pretty floral nuances. The middle weight flavors exhibit excellent energy and concentration while retaining a lovely sense of refinement on the powerful, focused and impressively long and slightly warm finish that is shaped by firm but fine tannins. This excellent effort should age gracefully for years.

The 2018 Volnay Santenots-du-Milieu 1er Cru has a generous bouquet with red cherries, wild strawberry and cranberry, quite pastille-like in style. The palate is well balanced with pliant tannins, fresh acidity, gentle grip with a vibrant and pure finish that exhibits judicious spiciness. Commendable length, this is a well-crafted Volnay that is a cut above the rest. Tasted blind at the Burgfest 2018 red tasting. -- Neal Martin