Volnay, Champans, 1er Cru, 2016
All velvet and silk. Alluring red berry, hedgerow and Victoria Plum fruit flavours. Charming, enveloping and bursting with lacy, luscious fruit, counterbalanced by a sufficient kick of freshness to leave you wanting more. Pure seduction. A big vineyard in the middle of prime Premier Cru Volnay territory on the south side of the village below Taillepieds, well exposed to the south-east. The soil is redder here than higher up the slope. At the top of the vineyard the soil is very rocky but becomes deeper and more clay influenced towards the bottom of the slope, giving some of the most complete Volnays that, despite ageing very well, can be extremely rewarding in youth.
critic reviews
(the entire bottom of this vineyard was fried by frost, according to régisseur François Duvivier): Bright, dark red-ruby. Medicinal blueberry and licorice aromas are lifted by a minty high note; less showy and more restrained on the nose than the Taillepieds and Caillerets today. Then wonderfully dense, primary and pure on the palate, but more vertical and less opulent than the Taillepieds and Caillerets. Strong mineral energy accentuates the impression of vibrancy. A bit less open to inspection today owing to its firm tannic spine.