Several of those who had been there to share the happy lunch with Becky Wasserman on Saturday 18th alas found themselves again together for the funeral of René Lafon in Meursault a few days later.
One of my very first visits was to the Domaine des Comtes Lafon back in 1981, shortly before René Lafon retired. He was an extraordinary person, not at all afraid to march to the beat of his own drum and full of theories. He would pull out alternative bottlings of Meursault Clos de la Barre 1979 to demonstrate that the one which was aged for nearly three years in barrel before bottling seemed fresher than the one which was bottled at the normal time.
Two dictums of his will remain for ever with me – his wine-making philosophy, expressed in French: “Il faut avoir le courage de ne rien faire” and his one English phrase: “Anyway, keep smiling – sometimes it’s difficult”. Whenever I think of René Lafon I shall keep smiling.
