Totally by accident, with just the theme of Volnay being circulated, our small group each brought a Premier Cru bottle from the south of Volnay village, adjacent to Meursault, including Clos des Chênes, Champans and just across the border in Meursault, Les Santenots. Champans and Santenots were already valued as the finest vineyards by successive historians, including Rodier and Lavalle, but Clos des Chênes wasn't recognised for its outstanding quality until much later. Champans (11.2 ha) is typically stony, with marly limestone offering good drainage, over hard Oxfordian limestone. Clos des Chenes (15.4 ha) has two parts, one part (and generally regarded as the better part) above the road D973, with reddish iron-packed soil, well-drained, the other part is higher up, cooler, steeper, with more white limestone marl. Les Santenots, across the border in Meursault, has more clay in the soil, contributing to fleshy body, richer texture and more robust structure, and in the best hands, they share the same velvety quality of tannins as the rest of Volnay. Les Santenots-du-Milieu is the heartland plot, about 8.8 ha within the larger 29 ha of Santenots. Lafon has 3.8 ha of the 8.8 ha.
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| Source: www.bourgogne-wines.com |
My brief tasting notes as follows:
1999 Volnay Champans, Marquis d'Angerville: There was a distinct metallic whiff and taste. Though there was a good level of acidity, the mid-palate tasted ungenerous, lacking in fruit quality or richness of texture, with an astringent finish.
2002 Volnay Santenots-du-Milieu, Comtes Lafon: this was my wine of the evening. Beautiful aromatics of cherry stone, redcurrant, cardamon, suggesting purety and ripeness. The intense flavours, balancing acidity and velvety tannins coated the palate, lingering for a very long time, leaving a sense of seamless harmony and perfection. This was utterly more-ish. I could have been drinking this all night! A very long life ahead.
1998 Volnay Clos des Chênes, Michel Lafarge: sadly cork taint got the better of this bottle
2002 Volnay Clos des Chênes, Michel Lafarge: earthy, sage, cherry aromas dominated, a slow burner, gradually developing more depth and character as it evolved in the glass, while the vibrant acidity keeping up the freshness. A classic Volnay for both nose and palate. A long life ahead.
1969 Volnay Clos des Chênes, Remoissenet: this was a really pleasant surprise, how well it was holding up. Totally tertiary, but gracefully held together. Finished long.
1966 Volnay Clos des Chênes, Potinet-Ampeau: Sadly this was corked too. What are the chances of getting 2 bottles out of 6 with cork taint??!!
Not quite sure what I concluded from this tasting, but these are certainly very elegant wines, with distinct aromatics, a silky and suave texture and delicate structure that's so different from the Côte de Nuits wines......these are wines that make you reflect...... for me, they are quintessentially Bourgogne.
It would be quite fun to do a tasting of the wines from the Village, the centre of Volnay, and then from the vineyards closer to Pommard, to complete our education on Volnay!
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