A tasting of the 2018 harvest from the Marquis d'Angerville in Volnay

by Daniel Johnnes, Max Goldberg Liu & Raj Vaidya
Tuesday, December 2, 2020

Tasting the D'Angerville 2018s was exciting and filled with anticipation as it was one of my first post bottling tasting of this vintage and I wasn't sure what to expect. Often a wine can shut down post bottling but these were true to my early impressions of the wines in barrel. It was a sunny vintage but these wines avoided the heavy, raisiny character that can show in a hot summer. They were rich and textured but had a lovely balanced freshness. Two wines stood out for me, punching above their weight class, starting with the Volnay 1er Cru. Although from several fine 1er Cru climats, this one had terrific breadth and class.

The other over-achiever was the Volnay 1er Cru Champans. This is always a charmer but in this vintage I found wonderful depth and complexity that I don't normally get. The Taillepieds, Caillerets and Clos des Ducs came in just where you would expect them to be - Superb! Bravo Guillaume…

~Daniel

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A takeaway for me from this tasting is that these wines really characterize how many growers in Burgundy (and especially the crème de la crème like d’Angerville) have mastered these warmer vintages in making wines with superb balance between richness and freshness. All of the wines were delicious and open for business but a standout was definitely the Volnay 1er Cru, which is around 2/3 Mitans and 1/3 Pitures. A clear step up in density and depth from the Volnay Village, the Premier Cru blend is only around 15% more expensive, making it a no-brainer value.

~Max

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I was also concerned about this vintage showing too much ripeness or a lack of precision but my fears were quickly put at ease. A few cuvées had some unusual weight to it but all in all the range was quite balanced. Guillaume told us that despite the slightly higher alcohol on some of the cuvées the wines of great pedigree found harmony easily, and I’d agree. As Daniel noted, the Champans stood out as superlative for its place in the line up, usually a wine which I think of as inferior (albeit slightly) to Caillerets, Taillepieds and Clos des Ducs. But the ‘18 seems on par with these in quality. I had a special affinity for the Caillerets, as I often do, being that it is the stoniest. Tremendous showing!

~Raj

Wines we tasted:

Volnay
Volnay 1er Cru
Volnay 1er Cru Fremiets
Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Angles
Volnay 1er Cru Champans
Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets
Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds
Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs

What's Pressoir Drinking?

July 14, 2020

By Jaime Dutton

Volnay Premier Cru Caillerets “Ancienne Cuvée Carnot” 2014, Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils

Happy Bastille Day!

Last night to celebrate we opened this beautiful expression of a Volnay Premier Cru from Domaine Bouchard Père & Fils.

The 2014 vintage is really singing right now and this wine did not disappoint. It showed elegance and fresh, mouth watering fruit, while the balance and depth confirmed this is a wine that can be enjoyed in the future as it takes on some age.

Frédéric Weber has been at the helm of the production at Bouchard Père et Fils since 2013 and the wines under Frédéric are not to be missed.

This Volnay Premier Cru Caillerets was the first vineyard purchased by the house in 1775 from the Carnot family. The cuvée name, “Ancienne Cuvée Carnot” references the name of the original landowners.

News from the vineyard 7/6/20

by Max Goldberg Liu

Veraison - the onset of ripening - is a turning point in the vine’s life cycle when it changes gears from producing energy through photosynthesis to storing that energy as sugar in grapes.

After flowering and fruit-setting, the grapes are hard, highly acidic, and green from the plant’s chlorophyll. Veraison replaces the chlorophyll with anthocyanins (giving red grapes their color) or carotenoids (in white grapes) and pumps sugars and other compounds from the vine into the berries. Over the course of ripening, the grapes swell with juice, their percentage of sugar (measured in brix) increases, and their acidity falls. Choosing to harvest when the sugar, acidity, and other phenolic compounds like tannins are perfectly balanced is one of the most important decisions a winemaker has to make each vintage.

In Burgundy, veraison classically happened in late July, although rules of thumb are obviously out the window in recent years with climate change. This vintage, winemakers are seeing veraison start to happen right now. The precocious vintage continues…

News from the vineyard 4/22/20

In Burgundy, the vines are growing quickly. An early growing season especially in the Cote de Beaune means that some vines are already showing mini grapes. Winemakers are now hoping for some rain for the vineyards. After an élevage of 18 months, most domains of Burgundy are bottling the 2018 vintage in their cellars. Domaine Matrot, in Meursault, finished bottling the 2018 on 21st of April.

Domaine Yvon Clerget, Volnay 1er Cru Carelle sous la Chapelle