2023 Volnay Clos de la Barre

The 2023 Volnay Clos de la Barre 1er Cru has more nuance and refinement on the nose compared to the Volnay Santenot: it is well focused with mineral-driven red berry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins, poised though not powerful per se, with a finish that just seems to "glide." This is a quite delicious Volnay in prospect and probably the best of the trio. As tradition dictates, I undertook a comprehensive tasting of around 100 wines from Louis Jadot at the winery in Beaune, divided into two sessions for the white and red. Readers should note that I interviewed head winemaker Frédéric Barnier. "The wines are 0.5% higher in alcohol in 2023 than 2022, but with exactly the same level of acidity," he adds, after I had filmed the video. "Everything from our own vineyards was around 13.5% while some fruit that we bought was over 14%. Many of the vines resisted excessive sugar accumulation. We introduced foudres so there is less oxygen whilst using the same level of SO2. The challenge was the purity of both the reds and the whites. The fermentation was not so easy for the latter, and we stopped the malolactic a little earlier. There is 0.8gm/L malic acid on 2022 and 1.1gm/L in 2023. There is 0.5% more alcohol but with the same acidity as the 2022."

The 2023 Volnay Clos de la Barre 1er Cru has more nuance and refinement on the nose compared to the Volnay Santenot: it is well focused with mineral-driven red berry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with finely chiseled tannins, poised though not powerful per se, with a finish that just seems to "glide." This is a quite delicious Volnay in prospect and probably the best of the trio.

Foudre. Medium deep ruby. A plump rounded and ripe cherry fruit, this is picked early as the wall effect helps ripening. An even, generous fruit across the palate, with quite some structure at the finish, but the tannins are more refined than Santenots and the fruit just a touch more persistent.