Volnay
The finest and most elegant red wines of the Côte de Beaune are grown in Volnay, a village which might be twinned with Chambolle-Musigny in the Côte de Nuits, for the high active chalk content in the soil and comparatively low clay content. Whereas in earlier times Volnay was made in a particularly light, early drinking style, these days there are many producers making wines which age extremely well.
The finest and most elegant red wines of the Côte de Beaune are grown in Volnay, a village which might be twinned with Chambolle- Musigny in the Côte de Nuits, for the high active chalk content in the soil and comparatively low clay content.
Whereas in earlier times Volnay was made in a particularly light, early drinking style, these days there are many producers making wines which age extremely well. The best vineyards run either side of the RN73 trunk road.- 98 hectares of village Volnay
- 115 hectares of Premier Cru vineyards (35 in all). The finest include Les Taillepieds, Clos des Chênes, Champans, Caillerets (including Clos des 60 Ouvrées) and Santenots in Meursault.
- Recommended producers: Lafarge, Lafon, de Montille
Prices:
Bottle
£35.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 3cs
Bottle
£35.10
This is the third year in a row that the domaine has suffered serious hail damage, which was especially bad in Marc-Olivier’s village, Volnay, and all the Pommards (Rugiens apart). Because of the hail, he used much less in the way of whole-bunch vinification, just 20 percent on Taillepieds and Rugiens, and none at all on his other wines. As ever, his gentle handling of extraction has resulted in very pale colours by modern standards, but this in no way affects the concentration of his wines. There are very good results here in 2014.
Bottle
£39.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 71cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Each time we have tasted Marc-Olivier Buffet’s 2013’s we have liked them more and more. His ‘softly softly’ approach to the vintage, with very little whole bunch fermentation and very light extraction has paid off. With skilled de-stemming he aimed for whole berries but not whole bunches in the vats.
Bottle
£45.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 21cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
The 2013 vintage was another very difficult vintage to manage, with a heavily reduced crop after the hail, but unlike in 2012 Dominique has at least been able to make all his appellations. The wines were at a backward stage when tasted in October but with really exciting potential.
Bottle
£49.00
This is the third year in a row that the domaine has suffered serious hail damage, which was especially bad in Marc-Olivier’s village, Volnay, and all the Pommards (Rugiens apart). Because of the hail, he used much less in the way of whole-bunch vinification, just 20 percent on Taillepieds and Rugiens, and none at all on his other wines. As ever, his gentle handling of extraction has resulted in very pale colours by modern standards, but this in no way affects the concentration of his wines. There are very good results here in 2014.
Bottle
£49.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl 60cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
David Croix picked relatively late for his reds, from October 3rd to 16th, but he wisely took the whites in first from 29th September to 2nd October. Overall he has been able to source more wine than for the pitifully small 2012 crop. These are beautiful wines, a marvellous expression of Pinot Noir, suited for medium term keeping.
Bottle
£55.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 10cs
“This is definitely the best vintage I have made in white,” says Benjamin. “The wines have great vineyard definition; I would just have loved to have made more. It is my style of vintage.” His reds, too, have gorgeous layers of ripe fruit, so 2014 is clearly a significant success all round for Benjamin.
Further cuvées are available from Benjamin and can be found at www.bbr. com/burgundy2014. Note – all the white wines will be bottled under top-quality screwcaps, StelvinLux Plus.
Bottle
£59.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 37cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
We have bought wines from this domaine in previous vintages, but this is the first year that they are appearing in the Opening Offer. Marc-Olivier Buffet, son of François, is the man in charge. He has a superb range of Premiers Crus in Volnay and Pommard, and though he managed to make them all in 2012, volumes are minute: below 10 hl/ha. He did not use many stems in 2012 and such is the concentration of the wines that he will give them a longer barrel maturation than usual. Beautiful wines with great aromatics, and keen pricing to boot.
Bottle
£59.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 9cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Each time we have tasted Marc-Olivier Buffet’s 2013’s we have liked them more and more. His ‘softly softly’ approach to the vintage, with very little whole bunch fermentation and very light extraction has paid off. With skilled de-stemming he aimed for whole berries but not whole bunches in the vats.
Bottle
£59.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 26cs
Bottle
£60.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 5cs
Jasper Morris MW - Wine Buyer
Bottle
£69.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 37cs
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director Shining a deep full purple, this wine still needs time in barrel, but it will certainly go the distance. It is another very stylish Volnay, but shows velvety fruit and greater depth than the village wine. It is noticeably more backward and with a firmer structure and impressive acidity too.
Bottle
£75.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle
£75.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 21cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Laura Atkinson-Godwin - Private Account Manager
Bottle
£79.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 7cs
Étienne de Montille began picking whites on 10th and reds on 13th September, relatively early. Despite the hail (worst in Pommard than Beaune, Volnay less) yields were slightly improved compared to 2013. The fruit was clean with small berries, and beautiful clusters, so they were able to continue with their usual programme of whole-bunch vinification in most instances. The details are given for each wine. They will be long lived wines.
Bottle
£85.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 20cs
Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate. 31st December 2015.
Bottle
£85.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Domaine de Montille is a first-class Côte de Beaune domaine and one which is producing some of the purest expressions of Pinot Noir to be found in Burgundy today. The domaine was developed by Hubert de Montille, a prominent Dijon lawyer, who inherited 2.5 hectares of vineyards in Volnay in 1951 and most of the production was sold in bulk to négociants. Over the years he acquired further parcels in Volnay, as well as four hectares in Pommard, taking his total holdings to just short of 17 hectares. Today the property is run by his son Etienne.
Lovely bright purple, the nose is an interesting mix of red cherries and prunes. Bright raspberry fruit follows on the palate with lovely fresh acidity and excellent structure to the finish.
Bottle
£88.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 10cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate, December 2014
Bottle
£88.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 5cs
Magnum
£195.00
Magnum 3 x 150cl 2cs
Harvest began during the last week in September and finished just before the storm. There was less whole bunch vinification for the wines affected by hail, but Volnay Taillepieds, Pommard Rugiens, Corton Clos du Roi and the wines from the Côte de Nuits were all predominantly vinified with their stems.
Bottle
£92.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl 21cs
Bottle
£95.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl 9cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Production of the Dominique Lafon wines has now moved to large cellars at the Château de Bligny, providing much better working conditions than previously. As a result of the hail, there is unlikely to be any village Volnay or Beaune Épenottes for us to offer. However, Dominique has found an excellent source of Beaune Vignes Franches this year to make up part of the shortfall. This cuvée apart, all the vineyards are managed by the Les Héretiers du Comte Lafon viticultural team, using the same methods. Starting this year, the wines will all be bottled using Diam30 corks.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Michel and Frédéric found the hail even sadder in 2014, their third year of suffering in succession, because the vines looked in such great condition before the catastrophe of 28th June. They lost more than half the crop once again, but were able to harvest ripe and healthy grapes to make absolutely fantastic wines. They remind Michel of both 1966 and 1978, vintages “which are still beautiful and always were”.
Bottle 6 x 75cl 2cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
“A vintage of pure happiness,” enthuses Nicolas Potel. He rightly retains enthusiasm for Burgundy as a whole and his own wines in particular, though his life has been made more difficult by the explosion of prices for grapes on the open market. However these cuvées make sense to us: we tasted a wide range and picked out the plums.
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl 1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl 1cs
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer
This is a vintage to buy from Domaine de Montille without hesitation, whether it be the Bourgogne Rouge, a Grand Cru or indeed anything in between, such as his marvellous Volnays and Pommards. The whites are very smart, too. In common with other vignerons, Etienne and his cellar master, Brian Sieve, have opted for a higher proportion of whole bunches this year. The grapes were picked between 1st and 5th September, with alcohol levels coming in below 13 percent.
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer