Discovering the Mâconnais (9) Domaine Joseph Lafarge
Website: https://www.josephlafarge.com/en
Domaine Joseph Lafarge is a winery and hospitality operation in the Mâconnais. I visited with Anthony, who’s 10th generation on the family farm. They’ve been growing winegrapes here since 1727, and in 1926 his great grandfather founded the Lugny coop.
His father planted some vines in 1989, and Anthony planted more in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and Anthony began making some wine, followed by some Crémant. In 2017 they left the cooperative. They have 13 hectares altogether, here and in Lugny and Saint-Genoux. Five of these are on their main 60 hectare property, and they also have pasture for 36 Charolais cows. They don’t own them, but they take them at the beginning of the season, and at the end of the season they get paid by how much weight they have gained.
They began their tourism business in 2010, with on-site cabins that look like wine barrels.
No herbicides are used. Anthony has a VitiBot Bacchus robot for weed control. This cost €200 000, but it means he can farm the 13 hectares with just one employee. It can weed 10 hectares with one charge, and work at a pace of 2.5 km/h, although it can go as fast as 3.5 km/h. He can’t use it to spray (he thinks we’ll have to wait until 2026 for this to be possible), but the next thing is to use it for trimming.
The recently renovated winery has 21 tanks, and all have cooling. All the wines are raised in stainless steel.
THE WINES
Domaine Joseph Lafarge Mâcon Le Grand Bois Monopole 2022
Bright, vivid and lemony with bright citrus fruit (this is the 1989 plantings by his father, with lots of clay and some silex), showing nice energy and focus with keen acidity. Pure and fruity with mineral energy. 90/100
Domaine Joseph Lafarge Mâcon Blanc 2022
From the younger vines. This is bright, textured and energetic with lovely intensity to the citrus and pear fruit. Has really good acidity and a sense of vitality to it with a mineral twist on the finish. 90/100
Domaine Joseph Lafarge Mâcon-Lugny Saint Pierre 2022
Clay limestone soils with lots of limestone. Fresh and quite mineral with a chalky edge to the lemony fruit with some pear richness. Quite stony on the finish with lovely fruit expression. He has just 1 hectare here. 91/100
Domaine Joseph Lafarge Mâcon Lugny No 32 2022
This is a selection from 19 different vineyards, and is the prestige cuvée of the domain. This has nice concentration with pear, apple and lemon fruit. This is fresh and intense with lovely acidity supporting the fruit. Very expressive with good energy. 92/100
Domaine Joseph Lafarge Mâcon Rosé 2023
Gamay, 2 h contact in press, harvested September, bottled in January. Fruity, bright and lively with nice acidity under the cherry and cranberry fruit. Nice freshness with some fresh, green-tinged strawberry notes too. 89/100
Domaine Joseph Lafarge Bourgogne Pinot Noir Rosé Les Béguines 2023
Saignée. Pale pink. Sappy and detailed with bright cherries and plums, finishing sappy and stony. Nice detail here. 88/100
Domaine Joseph Lafarge Bourgogne Rouge 2023
Pale, fine and sappy with nice supple cherry and raspberry fruit with some strawberry softness. Elegant, sappy and fine with lovely elegance and purity. Lovely harmony here. 91/100
Domaine Joseph Lafarge Bourgogne Rouge Les Beguines 2023
A climat in Lugny. Elegant, supple and refined with a slight peppery edge to the lovely sweet cherry and strawberry fruit. Perfumed and elegant with a lovely smooth texture. So elegant. 93/100
Domaine Joseph Lafarge Crémant de Bourgogne Extra Brut NV
2018, 2019 and 2020. Extra brut but actually no dosage added, this is from Grand Bois. Lively and bright with nice intensity showing pithy brightness. Lovely lemon and pear with some lovely energy to the ripe fruit. 90/100
