Most people drink Mâcon young, which makes a 2004 single-vineyard bottling from Dominique Lafon a real curiosity: a chance to see what the Mâconnais's most ambitious project of its era looks like with two decades behind it. Lafon was the first Côte d'Or producer to invest in the Mâconnais. He founded Les Héritiers du Comte Lafon in 1999 and converted its vineyards to biodynamics over the next few years, so this bottle comes from the domaine's very first chapter, before his longtime apprentice Caroline Gon became head winemaker in 2006. Clos du Four is a 1.4-hectare vineyard in Milly-Lamartine. It sits mid-slope, facing east at 250 metres, with vines planted between 1982 and 1985. Its deep soil holds more clay than most of the domaine's other Milly parcels, mixed with small limestone rocks from the bedrock, and that's the kind of footing that gives Chardonnay extra weight and depth. Lafon's approach here was always larger, neutral wood rather than new oak, which keeps the focus on the site. If you're a Burgundy lover curious how far a Mâcon can go, this is a fascinating bottle to open.