Last week, my tasting group did Volnays. I was very pleased with how consistently good the wines were. Virtually every wine was a winner to a greater or lesser extent. Highlights included a 1999 LaFarge Clos du Château des Ducs, a 2002 d’Angerville Premier Cru (not quite as rich, but very elegant) and a Marc Colin 1999 Caillerets that still need more time (1999 is a great Volnay vintage).
A 2009 Dublere Les Pitures was very rich but IMHO needed more time as did a 2005 Clos de la Chappelle by Louis Boillot (which is very promising).
This was the first wine I have had from Domaine Regis Rossignol-Changarnier, a 2007 Les Brouillards. I was very impressed. 2007 seems like a vintage that really favored Volnay.
Of interest to anyone who participate in the HAG group, a 2006 Hospices de Beaune Volnay Santenots Cuvée Jéhan de Massol (raised by Bouchard Père) was very nice and pretty mature.
We also had a Reinhold Haart 2010 Piesporter Goldtropfchen Auslese #16 that was a real star. Haart does not get enough raves around these parts.
Thanks Howard, this is a part of Burgundy that I’ve been getting very interested in the least couple of years. That d’Angerville 1er is a real favorite! Great value and very consistent.
Of interest, Rich, is that I had the d’Angerville with a couple of the same people about 3 or 4 years ago and they thought it was over the hill then. I think it was just closed. They agreed that it was singing Thursday night.
Thanks for the notes Howard. To echo the sentiment above, 20 years ago when I was a kid and a vineyard snob and didn’t know how good we really had it- there were two burgundies where I could have backed up the truck every vintage, never did, and sorely wish I had now.
One was Roumier Chambolle AC and the other was d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru. The latter is now 3 digits here in Dallas for the 2016. Still a good deal- scarily enough- but I would not mind having a stash of maturing examples that would have been $20-25 at release.
If I were younger, there would still be some Volnays I would be buying for value. One would be Clerget. Obviously, not $20-25 on release, and starting to go up in price as word gets out about the new generation there, but premier crus are still under $100. Another I have liked in the past is Jean-Marc Bouley, but I rarely see this wine and so have not purchased any.
There are still pretty good values (at least relatively speaking) in CdN villages level wines. For example, Vosne Romanee and Chambolle Musigny from Hudelot-Noellat.