d'Angerville Volnay Clos des Ducs 1er Cru 2016 (1.5L)

95 WA / 93-96 VM / 93-96 BH

The 2016 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs is a stunning young wine, unwinding in the glass with a beautiful but reserved bouquet of rose petal, candied violet, red cherries, plums, dark chocolate and hints of the savory bass-notes to come. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with lovely purity of fruit, dense but velvety tannins and a bright animating line of acidity, concluding with a penetrating and precise finish. There's an energy to the fruit that marks this out as a special vintage for the Clos des Ducs, though it will demand a decade's patience at a minimum. William Kelley – The Wine Advocate

(from a normal crop of 38 hectoliters per hectare; aging in about 23% new oak, vs. 20% for the rest of these premier crus): Dark ruby. Complex but youthfully restrained aromas of cassis, blueberry, violet and licorice, with a spicy element that Guillaume d'Angerville attributes to the vineyard. Superconcentrated wine with compelling sweetness and energy. An impeccably balanced, potentially great Volnay. Guillaume d'Angerville believes that the vines' windy situation high up on the hillside protected them against the frost in April. William Kelley – Vinous Media

Tasting note: Interestingly, this seems to possess elements of all three of the preceding wines as the cool and ultra-elegant nose exhibits a broad range of spice and floral elements on the black cherry and plum-suffused aromas. There is almost painful intensity to the chiseled, focused and stony medium weight flavors that coat the palate with dry extract on the youthfully austere, powerful and very serious finish. This is very clearly built to age and a wine that should really not be touched for at least a decade. In a word, terrific. Allen Meadows - Burghound