Clos de la Chapelle Volnay Taillepieds Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru 2022 (750ML)

93-95 JM / 92-94 BH / 92-94 VM

Made just from the old vines, 85 years. Black colour with a purple rim. Something of blackstrap on the nose, at first seeming to lack the vivacity. A vast heady mouthful but in fact it does have proper energy at the heart. There is a slight reduction and the tannins are too brawny at the moment, but then the quality Taillepieds fruit comes swooping back. It will calm down with time and it may even get a barrel of the younger vines added if that improves the blend. I think this is going to be a terrific wine. Stick my neck out. Drink from 2030-2038. Tasted Oct 2023.—Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy

Note: from a parcel of .21 ha
Producer note: Mark O'Connell, owner and winemaker of this 5 ha domaine, described 2022 as "a vintage of excitement and relief. Excitement because the quality of the wines was evident from the first day of picking. And relief because after three years of small crops, we finally had some wine for our customers. 2022 saw the Domaine add an additional hectare of vines, which contributed to the full cellar. The year started with a January colder than recent years, but February warmed up. The change in our pruning regimen meant that bud burst was delayed by as much as a week so the frost pressure in the first half of April had negligible effect. Flowering occurred during the last week of May under warm, dry conditions. June brought rain, about 125mm in most our vineyards, which the vines conserved in a manner that foresaw the dry and hot months of July and August. Picking began on August 25th and was completed by the 31st. The reds came in with potential alcohols between 12.5 and 13.0% with pH's between 3.25 and 3.45. The whites had similar alcohols and though with lower pHs of between 3.2 and 3.3. The fruit was clean and beautiful, with the bunches themselves the largest we have seen and thus yields came in between 40 to 45 hl/ha. The fermentations went smoothly with most of the cuvaisons lasting almost nearly 21 days with very good temperatures and excellent extraction. By contrast, the malos for the whites were very quick to finish but the reds were highly variable, with the Volnay 1er cru Taillepieds not finishing until the summer. In the end, we are thrilled with these wines from top to bottom. The reds remind me of a blend of 1985 and 1999 and the whites I think will be like 1990." O'Connell noted that the reds would be bottled both unfined and unfiltered. As the scores and comments confirm, there are some excellent wines here in 2022.
Tasting note: Firm reduction renders the nose impossible to assess. Otherwise, the similarly scaled flavors possess a more sophisticated mouthfeel that is at once caressing but almost painfully intense with evident minerality adding a sense of lift to the borderline chewy, and very serious, finale. This is most impressive in its fashion but not necessarily an iconic example. Sweet Spot Outstanding.—Allen Meadows, Burghound

The 2022 Volnay Les Taillepieds 1er Cru comes from vines converted to organic in 2007, which were planted in 1950. This cuvée went through a late malo, some continuing to the end of July. This nose has more horsepower than the Premier Cru: vibrant black cherries, raspberry coulis and blueberry fruit burst from the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with saturated, pliant tannins. There’s lovely balance here with ne acidity and more mineralité coming through on the nish; this is an excellent Volnay. -- Neal Martin, Vinous Media