Bernard & Thierry Glantenay Volnay Villages 2019 (750ML)

89-92 JM

From five plots, including two small 1ers crus, Lurets and Ormeau which together make up 25% of the blend. Mid crimson colour, with a slightly smoky note which soon blows off to release the elegance of the fruit. This builds to a useful structure with nuances of sweet ripe red cherries and very good persistence, rather a fine example.-Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy

Thierry Glantenay is one of the humblest, most discreet winemakers I visited in Burgundy, but that shouldn't lead anyone to underestimate the quality of his wines, or the incremental but meaningful progress he makes every year. 2020's initiative was to end roganage (trimming the vines) by tractor: instead, Thierry now trims by hand, with shears, letting the canopies grow higher in emulation of his upstairs neighbor in Les Rugiens, Thomas Bouley. As I wrote last year, Glantenay prefers to let temperature and alcohol do the work of extraction for him, keeping pigéage and rémontage to a minimum. He presses gently, and élevage, without racking until the mise en bouteille, takes place in at most 30% new barrels. I'd nominate these 2019s as Glantenay's finest vintage since 2015, and they are very promising wines that still carry a much more modest tariff than a number of producers who don't work as well in the vineyards or the cellar.- William Kelley, The Wine Advocate