Château Raymond-Lafon is an unclassified Sauternes

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

producer from the Sauternes

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

. The estate's sweet wines are a result of the onset of "noble rot" (''

Botrytis cinerea ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" ...

''). Raymond-Lafon is located in the southern part of France’s

Bordeaux wine Bordeaux wine (; ) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city, the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gi ...

region in the district of

Graves A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grave ...

, immediately north of Sauternes' most historically rated vineyard, Château d'Yquem, east of

Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey is a Premier Cru Classé (French, “First Growth”) Sauternes wine from the Sauternes appellation. The winery is located in the southern part of France's Bordeaux wine region in the district of Graves in the ...

and

Château Clos Haut-Peyraguey Château Clos Haut-Peyraguey is a sweet white wine ranked as Premier Cru Classé (French, “First Growth”) in the original Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855. Belonging to the Sauternes appellation in Gironde, in the region of Graves ...

, and south of Château Suduiraut.

History

The 1850 edition of ''

Cocks & Féret ''Cocks & Féret'', or simply ''Féret'', is the colloquial name of a Bordeaux wine directory originally created by Charles Cocks and Michel-Édouard Féret in 1846, which was published under the name ''Bordeaux, its Wines and the Claret Country'' ...

'' mentions the Lafon cousins, one of whom was Raymond Lafon, a mayor of Sauternes, who was later registered as a vineyard owner by 1868.Coates, Clive (2004). ''The Wines of Bordeaux''. University of California Press. pp. 248-249. During the period of the

Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 The Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855 resulted from the Exposition Universelle (1855), 1855 Exposition Universelle de Paris, when Emperor Napoleon III of France, Napoleon III requested a classification system for France's best Bordea ...

, the

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s extended and were located in the middle of several classified growths, but the

vines A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or wikt:scandent, scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; ...

were only five years old at the time, deemed premature for classification.Kissack, Chris, thewinedoctor.com
Chateau Raymond-Lafon
/ref>Anson, Jane, newbordeaux.com (July 15, 2010)
Vertical of Raymond Lafon: a Sauternes to know about
chateau-raymond-lafon.f

/ref> Raymond-Lafon is therefore unclassified, and to date not included at the annual UGC ''

en primeur ''En primeur'' or "wine futures", is a method of purchasing wines early while the wine (a vintage) is still in the barrel. This offers the customer the opportunity to invest before the wine is bottled. Payment is made at an early stage, a yea ...

'' tastings. After a succession of owners, the estate came to be in a state of disrepair until it was purchased in 1972 by Pierre Meslier, ''regisseur'' (technical director) of Château d’Yquem from 1963 to 1989. Meslier applied the techniques of Yquem and the resulting product became a success within few years, demand eventually exceeding available product, and vintages in the 1980s sold for prices beyond that of wines from highly rated châteaux such as Climens and Rieussec.

David Peppercorn David Peppercorn (born 1931) is a British Master of Wine, French wine importer and author, known for his books about the wines of Bordeaux and long experience in his field, having collected tasting notes since the late 1950s. He is married to ...

describes Raymond-Lafon as up to ''cru classé'' standards, while

Tom Stevenson Tom Stevenson (born 1951) is a British wine writer and critic. Stevenson is regarded as an expert on Champagne and Alsace wine. He has written 23 books. Career Stevenson began writing for Decanter magazine in 1981, and during the mid-1980s ...

directs critical commentary at the estate in '' The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia'' in 2005, contending that Raymond-Lafon was "performing at only ''deuxième cru'' level and consequently overrated and overpriced", and, "a nice Sauternes, but not worth three times the price of Rieussec or two-and-a-half times as much as Climens". Conversely, the estate attracted attention in 2010 when the prices of the acclaimed 2009 vintage were released, and in contrast to other Sauternes estates who had continued the trend of raising prices from the previous year, Raymond-Lafon had lowered theirs by 12% from the 2008 price and 24% from the 2005 price.Kakaviatos, Panos, connectionstowine.com (September 5, 2010)
Figeac, Raymond Lafon, Kirwan and Branaire Ducru: early September 2010
/ref> Raymond-Lafon is presently owned by the Meslier family, run by brothers Jean-Pierre and Charles-Henri and sister Marie-Françoise. RayLafon07

Production

The

area extends of which 16 ha is under vine. The grape variety distribution is 80%

Sémillon Sémillon () is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, mostly in French wine, France and Australian wine, Australia. Its thin skin and susceptibility to Botrytis cinerea, botrytis make it dominate the sweet wine region S ...

and 20%

Sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

of vines with an average age of 35 years.chateau-raymond-lafon.f
Technical facts
/ref> The wine is

aged Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologi ...

for three years in

oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...

before bottling. While the resulting wine will be judged for sufficient quality for use in the ''grand vin'', an approximate 20% may be declassified and sold off in bulk. There is also a

second wine Second wine or second label (French: ''Second vin'') is a term commonly associated with Bordeaux wine to refer to a second label wine made from '' cuvee'' not selected for use in the ''Grand vin'' or first label. In some cases a third wine or e ...

named Le Cadet de Raymond-Lafon, previously named Chateau Lafon-Laroze. The average annual production is 20,000 bottles.

References

External links

Château Raymond-Lafon official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raymond-Lafon, Chateau Bordeaux wine producers