Gilles Lafouge
Overview
Gilles Lafouge is a quality-focused Auxey-Duresses domaine, one of the finest producers in this underappreciated appellation. Auxey-Duresses sits between Meursault and Saint-Romain and produces both red and white wines of real quality at excellent value.
Appellations
- Auxey-Duresses (premier crus and village, red and white)
Key Wines
- Auxey-Duresses premier crus (red and white)
- Village Auxey-Duresses (red and white)
Style Notes
Lafouge produces honest, terroir-focused wines that represent among the best values on the Côte de Beaune. The reds have good depth and the whites show the minerality expected from this limestone-rich area adjacent to Meursault.
2023 Vintage Notes
Visited January 2025. Full range produced in the generous 2023 vintage. Both reds and whites showed the vintage’s characteristic depth and succulence.
2024 Vintage Notes (Burghound #102)
Gilles Lafouge: “a serious challenge” — frost, poor flowering, moderate mildew pressure. Waited until Sept 18 to pick to ensure full ripeness. Yields 19–30 hl/ha for pinot, 35–45 hl/ha for chardonnay. Potential alcohols 12–12.5%. Thin skins meant vinifying “quite softly” to avoid bitter seed tannins. Lafouge: “the style is fresh, cool and transparent. I find our 2024s to be more interesting [than 2021].” Meadows agrees and notes the wines “typically represent excellent value.” Reds bottled December 2025/January 2026 without fining or filtration.
2024 Scores (bottled):
- Auxey-Duresses “Les Duresses” 1er (1.6 ha): 91 — “gorgeously textured, sleek and overtly mineral-driven”; “really very good and worth investigating”
- Auxey-Duresses “La Chapelle” 1er: 90 — lilting, stony; “understated and promising”
- Pommard “Les Grand Epenots” 1er: 90 — reduced on nose; vibrant, detailed; built-to-age
- Pommard “Les Chanlins” 1er: 90 — underlying tension; mineral; youthfully austere
- Pommard “Les Noizons”: 89 — energy, stony, muscular; “very good Pommard villages”
- Auxey-Duresses “Climat du Val” 1er: 89 — sleek, caressing; “lovely and understated”
- Bourgogne Côte d’Or: 87 — “very good Bourgogne”; worth checking out
- Auxey-Duresses (villages): 87
My Tastings
(none yet)
Sources
sources/articles/VFTC/VFTC Jan-Feb 2025 #115.txtsources/articles/VFTC/VFTC Jan-Feb 2026 #121.pdfsources/articles/Burghound/Burghound Issue 102 - 2024 and 2023 Cote de Beaune Reds.txt