2017 Volnay Clos des Ducs 1er Cru

Bright medium red. Highly perfumed aromas and flavors of raspberry, cherry, licorice and flowers. On the lean side but with firm acidity giving cut to the aromatic palate. All about perfume today, and a bit dry on the back end. A second bottle showed a similar nose, but with some darker fruits emerging with air. It also offered considerably more mid-palate pliancy of texture as well as more stuffing to buffer its tannins. The finish is quite fresh, with nicely integrated acidity. My score, needless to say, is for the second bottle. (13.3% alcohol; the Clos des Ducs vines were harvested on September 7; 42 hectoliters per hectare produced; 3.63 pH; bottled three weeks before our tasting)

There is an overt spiciness to the even more restrained nose that blends notes of red cherry, plum, violet, lavender and a whiff of warm earth. The sleek, intense and chiseled middle weight flavors flash ample minerality before terminating in a youthfully austere and wonderfully persistent finish that, like the Caillerets, is impeccably well-balanced. This tautly muscular effort is also youthfully austere and very much built-to-age. In a word, lovely.

Harvest 7 September, yield 42 hl/ha, pH 3.63. Bottled at the end of March 2019. The first bottle was very pure and fresh on the nose but severe and unforthcoming at this point, however pure and concentrated. All to come! I initially scored it 17.5+ (drink 2027–2042) but the Norwegian taster among us, clearly an Angerville habitué, called for a second bottle that was much more refined and layered. And much more expressive on the palate, with real vibrancy. Long and racy. (JR)