Volnay

An appellation in the Côte de Beaune between Meursault on the south side and Pommard on the north side. The wines are distinctly different from those of Pommard, lighter in colour and more elegant. They have always been known as delicate, fruity feminine and very fine wines, even a century ago the wines were described as "partridge-eye" pink in colour and the finest of all the wines of the Côte de Beaune. Whilst often displaying great charm and fruit in their youth the best Volnay often have considerable power too and can be very ageworthy.

More than half Volnay's vineyards are of premier cru status and one of these, Les Santenots, has a foot in two communes - its red wines are Volnay and its whites are Meursault. Aswell as the Santenots du Milieu Volnay has a plethora of other fine vineyards: Le Cailleret, Clos des Chênes, Champans, Taillepieds, the Clos de la Bousse d'Or, monopole of Domaine de la Pousse d'Or, and perhaps the most lauded of them all, the Clos des Ducs, a monopole of Marquis d'Angerville, one of the pioneering estates of Domaine-bottled Burgundy in the 1930s. Volnay's finest producers include Marquis d'Angerville, Michel Lafarge and de Montille.