Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Lafon's Santenots is a reference for the appellation in each vintage; 2023 is no exception. It offers a ripe, forward blackberry and blueberry fruit character with earth, smoke and spice notes. The texture is substantial, with firm tannins and abundant extract, but there is nothing heavy or astringent here. Although Pierre Lafon has begun to experiment with whole clusters in the ferment, there was none in any wine this vintage. This wine was racked after harvest 2024 and will be bottled in the spring.
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Jasper Morris
Not racked. A fine ruby to purple colour, not too intense, but the bouquet is. A little blood orange alongside strawberry and more. At the start of ripeness yet needed picking, there is a lactic oak from the barrel, but I like the way the fruit keeps returning in waves. More energy and fresher fruit in a second barrel, and certainly very persistent. Drink from 2032-2038.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Volnay 1er Cru Les Santenots-du-Milieu is the most textural and concentrated of Lafon's reds this year, wafting from the glass with notes of dark berries, vine smoke and spices, framed by a deft touch of new oak. Medium to full-bodied, layered and satiny, with a fleshy core of fruit framed by sweet tannins, it will offer a broad drinking window.
Barrel Sample: 91-93 -
Vinous
The 2024 Volnay Les Santenots-du-Milieu 1er Cru has a subtle marine influence on the nose, a touch of brine that marries nicely with the red fruit despite a little reduction at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with strict tannins like the Champans, sapid with a touch of black olive, again just a little Pommard-like on the finish when I seek more sensuality and rondeur.
Barrel Sample: 90-92
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
On the hillsides between Pommard and Meursault, Volnay is one of two villages in the Côte de Beaune of Burgundy that is recognized for its extraordinary Pinot Noir. Pommard is the other; the rest of the villages are most known for some of the most exceptional Chardonnay in the world. While Volnay Pinot Noir tends to be light in color and more delicate than that of Pommard, they typically stand on par with each other in regards to quality and demand.
Volnay can’t claim any Grands Crus vineyards but more than half of it has achieved Premier Cru status. Volnay Premiers Crus vineyards stretch across the entire village from northeast to southwest, abutting and actually falling “into” Meursault. Where they merge is a vineyard called Les Santenots. Pinot Noir grows in this Meursault Premier Cru but since that village is most associated with stellar whites, the Pinot Noir from Les Santenots, takes the name Volnay Santenots. Immediately above it are Volnay’s other prized Premier Cru, Le Cailleret, Champans, Clos des Chênes and Le Cailleret.
Volnay Pinot Noir are earthy with red or blue fruit. Aromas such as smoke, herbs, forest, cocoa and spice are common and on the palate they are gorgeous and concentrated with finesse but won’t truly charm you without some age.