Tasted with Pascal Mure in Volnay, 08 February 2016.
Domaine Pascal Mure
2 Grande Rue
21190 Volnay
Tel: +33 3 80 21 61 15
www.domaine-mure.com/
This 9 hectare domaine is set at the bottom of the village, next to the road to Meursault, indeed it sits in the top corner of the 1er cru vineyard – Carelle sous la Chapelle. Pascal notes “Yes we’re in the middle of the vines – there’s no place available in the centre of Volnay, but here we can vinify everything.”
Mures have been in Volnay since the 1700s – there was a Mure family domaine, originally in Pommard, but of course there were marriages since then! This is not the only Mure in the village – although they are not so close – two domaines started with two brothers, one being the grandfather of Pascal Mure. Pascal has been at the domaine since 1987, and today there are 9 hectares of vines spread across Pommard, Volnay and Monthelie. There are whites here too, Hautes Côtes de Beaune, Bourgogne Blanc and Aligoté – new is a Monthelie Blanc too – 100 metres from the Meursault appellation. The domaine’s red Bourgognes are at the bottom of the hill of Volnay and Pommard, mainly Pommard.
“We’re not Bio, but we take lutte raisonnée to the maximum” says Pascal, “We also do our triage twice; first in the vines, because if the ingredients in the kitchen are not good – how will the cooking be?” All the grapes are hand harvested, the bourgognes too, all destemmed and depending on the vintage, probably a little cool maceration too. “I need to taste the tanks every day to keep an overview…” Elevage depends on the wine and the vintage, but it’s normally between 12-18 months. There’s no new oak in the Bourgogne, and about 20% for the villages – working mainly with Billon, but a little Chassin is creeping in here too..
The main market for these wines is France, with direct sales here from the domaine and salons across the country.
The wines…
The number of Volnay cuvées here is modest 2! So I tasted the bourgogne too – a good decision! What a super set of wines – gorgeous, perfectly clichéd Volnay aromatic – even the Bourgogne (mainly) from Pommard 😉 In the mouth there’s structure but concentrated flavour too, to perfectly balance – nothing impenetrable or overblown, simply great bottles – the few tasted by me, anyway.
Really a mix of commune fruit from Pommard and just over the border from Volnay in Meursault – so on average it’s Volnay!
Beautiful, fresh and floral – a really engaging nose. Supple, intense, wide, fine flavoured – this is excellent – super finishing too.
Many parcels from the bottom of Volnay between the two roads; Combes, Famines and Grands Poisots – just under 0.7 hectares.
Beautiful, floral aromas, a weight of ripe fruit below, nothing overdone – okay maybe the appreciation! A little more structure, faint tannin, intense a certain minerality but essentially a sweet-fruited wine of very good complexity. Nice texture and long, super long! Excellent wine again!
2014 Volnay 1er Carelle sous la Chapelle
Vines next to the house. Less than 0.2 hectares – ‘A little vin, sympathetique…’
Beautiful – hauntingly gorgeous nose of violets and fruit. Intense, concentrated – wow – this is really going to need a little time to accommodate me, but it has fantastic material. There are layers of finishing flavour too – the tannin is cushioned and supporting. Just a really impressive, wide and layered flavour.
“To drink, I like to wait 5-10 years, minimum 5, but they can go older” says Pascal.
2009 Volnay 1er Carelle sous la Chapelle
A suggestion of development but very pretty and precise aromas; direct fruit elements. More cushioned texture, layers of flavour, a little extra texture of tannin, but this is still a bay of course. More measured delivery of flavour after the 2014 but it’s clearly still a baby. Supple and faintly spiced. Very good wine – the florals really appear in the faint but long finish…