What started out in 1999 as just a challenge to occupy the hyperactive attention of perhaps Burgundy’s most famous winemaker, Dominique Lafon’s Heritiers project has become almost an institution: an annual stable of wines that routinely set the standard for quality in the Maconnaise.  This year, we once again chose the Macon-Villages from the dozen or so wines Lafon produces each vintage. For us, it was the best blend of character and value in the entire lineup.  Coming from two separate but adjacent biodynamically-farmed parcels, one in Uchizy and the other in Chardonnay (yes, that’s the village of Chardonnay), both over 35 years old and planted on chalk and clay, the Villages cuvee was kept on its lees in old 53-hectoliter casks for eight months before it was bottled late last spring.  2025 saw a bizarre, challenging growing season with yields decimated by frost, hail, mid-season disease pressure and heat spikes.  But the quality of the few grapes that were harvested were absolutely classic, a terrific vintage in terms of both fruit concentration and acidity. This wine is typically tight and stony upon release with lemon crème brulee, geranium and grape sugar on the nose and its full palate usually needs a good amount of air to fully express itself. In 2025 it has all that in spades.  I actually like to decant this wine when I drink it within the first few years of its life.  With time, however, the nose loses its reticence and becomes much fuller, much more expressive.  It’s clearly now a benchmark for the Macon-Villages appellation, a wine you’ll find in most every Macon winemaker’s own cellar.  Everyone wants to know what Lafon is up to!  Drink it young with oysters, clams or other seafood dishes, or wait a year or two and enjoy its richness alongside those seared scallops in tarragon butter.  Our allocation, normally 5 cases, is only 2 this year. Get yours now!