Winemaker Notes
This is an elegant yet fruity wine, with vanilla and violet aromas.
When opened young, this wine is perfect with roast meats and poultry. Drink an older vintage with mellow cheeses like Brie, Chaource or Reblochon. In great vintages, this wine will be very good with rich, red meat dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Ripe, generous and velvety with lively acidity, this is an impressive Volnay that retains the light-footedness of this appellation, in spite of the extreme vintage. Stacks of fine tannins and this side of the wine builds at the highly structured finish. Excellent freshness.
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Vinous
The 2020 Volnay Clos de la Barre 1er Cru has a well-defined and quite precise bouquet, perhaps more so compared to the Mitans and the Santenots. The palate is medium-bodied with silky tannins, a fine bead of acidity, vibrant and fresh with a slightly candied finish. There is something very seductive and more-ish about this Volnay - excellent.
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Wine Spectator
A supple red, with core flavors of cherry, raspberry and plum fruit shaded by vanilla, sweet spices and a vegetal note. Firms up, with chalky tannins marking the vibrant finish. Best from 2025 through 2036. 200 cases made, 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.