Winemaker Notes
The Volnay Santenots terroir, located in the town of Meursault, produces red wines which are complex. They are rich, well-structured, and elegant. Black fruits dominate the bouquet, underlined by soft and velvety tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
The Matrot family destems their fruit and ferments without added yeasts, aging this wine in mostly older oak barrels (20 percent new). It’s vibrant and pretty, offering immediate satisfaction within a gentle, earthy frame. The finish is mellow and firm, continuing to give green herb scents and juicy notes of fruit. Accessible as a young wine, this will age with grace.
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Wine Spectator
Well-defined flavors of cherry, strawberry, sandalwood, woodsy and iron are the hallmarks of this vibrant, structured red. It's complex and long, with fine balance and potential. Best from 2022 through 2035. 100 cases imported.
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.