Volnay Les Caillerets

The d’Angerville 2005 Volnay Caillerets features floral and black cherry aromas, an intensely salty, meaty, faintly peppery, and persistently ripe black-fruited palate, and a rich finish that adds deeply meaty and distinctly chalky mineral dimensions. This shows striking grip and persistence, vivid, invigorating primary fresh fruit juiciness, and meaty depth, along with superb refinement of tannins and an incipiently silken texture.
David Schildknecht - Wine Advocate - 29-Jun-2007

Quite heavily hailed so a quarter of the already small crop was declassified. Superb concentrated colour here, real life and energy. Very intense, ultra succulent dark plum and blackberry, a huge wave of succulent fruit covering the structure. They have managed the tannins very well.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director

In response to the very small concentrated berries which characterise the fruit in 2012, Philippe Prost, head winemaker, has opted for more whole bunch fermentation this year, up to 25% per cuve. The wines are exceptionally intense, so a little leavening by the inclusion of some stems makes sense. The white wines are bursting with energy, clearly amongst the successes of the vintage.

This was bought by Bouchard in 1775 from the Famille Carnot and at the time of Dr Lavalle, when it was held as a Tête de Cuvée. The colour is especially dense and the nose presents with deep plum notes, perhaps with a bit of surmaturité . This has a lot of concentration and extract and so it is surprising to find it was harvested on 21st September, the first day of the vintage. That speaks highly of the terroir . The texture is almost Vosne in style. Drink 2020-2025.
Adam Bruntlett, Burgundy Buyer

Bouchard Père & Fils can trace its origins back to 1731 though it is no longer family- owned. In 1995 Champagne entrepreneur, Joseph Henriot, acquired the company. The wines are made by technical director Frédéric Weber in succession to Philippe Prost. An impressive gravity-flow winery on the Route de Savigny, the Cuverie St Vincent, was completed in 2005, enabling them to process all their wines with optimum efficiency. Bouchard’s total holdings comprise 130 hectares, including 12 hectares of Grand Cru and 74 hectares of Premier Cru, which makes them the largest vineyard owners in the Côte d’Or. Philippe Prost had an individual take on the vintage. His view is that the high levels of rainfall at the start of the year (themselves contributory to the frost damage) saturated the soil to such a degree that high levels of minerals were unlocked and subsequently taken up by the vines. It is useful to get the view of a producer who covers the whole region. He also observed that there were much smaller berries in the Côte de Beaune than the Côte de Nuits and that, on the whole, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were picked at almost the same time. He also offered a thought on bâtonnage: Bouchard prefers to roll their barrels to move the lees, and not to open the bung and stir. This preserves the CO2 in the wine which means less SO2 is necessary.

Bought by Bouchard in 1775 from the Famille Carnot and at the time of Dr Lavalle, when it was held as a  Tête de Cuvée. The nose offers very ripe red fruit, which is mirrored on the rich, dense palate. The texture is initially silky and seductive before the limestone tannins kick in and extend the finish.  Drink 2021-2026.

Frédéric Weber explained that the dry conditions in the summer left some parcels suffering from hydric stress, which necessitated a change to the usual picking order. As a result, harvest began on 4th September in the Côte de Beaune for reds, with whites following from 8th and then the Côte de Nuits reds from 12th, finishing with Clos de Bèze on 20th. The season was otherwise very straightforward and Frédéric feels the vintage has given whites with good balance and surprising power, and reds which are rounded with delicate aromas and flavours.