Domaine Lafouge Auxey-Duresses La Chappelle 2017

Lafouge's 2017 Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru Les Duresses is showing very well from bottle, wafting from the glass with a pretty bouquet of cherries, cassis, licorice and dried flowers that's richer and riper than it seemed from barrel.

On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, supple and satiny, with a fleshy core of fruit framed by ripe acids and supple tannins that belie this premier cru's name. While this is unlikely to prove among the most long-lived reds of Lafouge's career, it will offer immense pleasure for the better part of a decade.