Tasted in Volnay with Pierrick Bouley, 15 March 2018.

Domaine Pierrick Bouley
5, Place de l’Eglise
21190 Volnay
Tel: +33 3 80 21 61 69
http://pascalbouley.com

You may not a change of name for this domaine. Wine sold in France retains the old name – Réyane & Pascal Bouley – but the bottles that are exported are now with Pierrick’s name.

Pierrick on 2017:
“At last! A normal harvest – just like 2009. Our old vines are never high yielding but we still had 42 hl/ha average. And it’s a good average quality I think. So, I think it’s very good as we have both quality and quantity.”

Pierrick on 2016:
“Catastrophic. Effectively 12,000 bottles instead of 35,000 – of-course it depends on the location – some places were not that bad. We harvested between 20-25 September, going through the vines 3 times. The wines have been bottled a month – the week of 12 Feb. We harvested between 12 and 15 hl/ha. All our parcels had some frost except Champans and Clos des Chênes. My grandfather used to say that if there’s frost in Champans, then it will be a bad year – and the first part of the rows were indeed touched. The quality was super for anyone who spent time on triage. Looking at the wines I think they are for keeping, some are very serious, but that’s no surprise looking at some of the yields.”

The wines…

A couple of cuvées were not sulfured until the bottling – 25mg free and 42mg total is the average in 2016.

As Pierrick notes, the wines are serious here in 2016, but such is the combination of balance and structure that I think there will be much to look forward to – if not particularly whilst young!

2016 Passetoutgrains
30% gamay, just other side of RN74 below Volnay. Like the aligoté they don’t always commercialise this, but they will make an exception this year. This was the only wine that had a little chaptalisation
A nice big burst of aromatic pinot. Direct and fresh, really a mineral wine, the fruit is quite modest, but the mouth-watering length of flavour not. A super finish.

2016 Bourgogne Pinot Noir
Also from the bottom of the Volnay commune – Lamboits, still on the ‘right side’ of the road. No wind here, there was frost in 2016 and 2017, indeed 1 in every 3 years!
A little extra depth of aromatic red fruit. Direct again, a little more supple width and sweetness of fruit. Fine and long again in the finish – a much friendlier wine than the last. Very tasty.

2016 Monthelie Aux Fournereaux
Only one barrel in 2016 – in 2017 there were 6!
A deeper colour. Ooh – beautiful nose alert! Bright, beautifully focused berry fruit – gorgeous. Direct, quite narrow, less directly attractive in the mouth than the Bourgogne, for example, but layered finishing and very tasty. A little austere – just lacking some of the sweetness of the last. Just give it a little time…

2016 Volnay
Normally an assembly of about 10 parcels – 3 at the top of the village but most just below the lower 1er crus. In 2016, still from 3 hectares of different parcels, but only 10 hl/ha was the result – 10 barrels. Normally with separate vinifications, but this year all were assembled
A wider nose, red fruited, faintly floral. Good volume in the mouth, less austere than the Monthelie, and good depth of mid and finishing flavour. Very good!

2016 Monthelie 1er Les Clous
White soil, lots of limestone – it’s like the Clos des Chênes. Bought in 2007 – ‘It has taken a little while but for the last 5 or-so years I’ve become very happy with this.’ This was a villages until reclassified in about 2006/7.
More open, a hint spiced, floral again. Sleek again, direct again, less depth of flavour but a little extra complexity in the middle and the finish – super, but I still prefer the last wine…

2016 Volnay 1er Robardelles
At the top on the road between Chevrets and Santenots Dessous – usually the most concentrated. It’s an old (70) vine of almost half a hectare but only 1 barrel in 2016 as it’s flat here, so was frosted. 8 hl/ha
Lots of colour. A deep and concentrated nose – quite tight. Direct, super-silky texture – this is super in the mouth, caressing the palate. Long, not much flavour complexity today but a beautiful texture… Excellent!

2016 Volnay 1er Ronceret
Right in the middle of the 1ers at the top of the vineyard. Quite deep soil but with lots of small rocks. Some slope here – frosted, but less frosted – 25 hl/ha
A deep nose again but with a little more open dimension of fruit. Almost as fine texture, just a little more tannin showing, but here there’s extra fruit complexity showing in the middle and finish. Excellent again.

2016 Volnay 1er la Grand Champs Monopole
The monopoly of this 0.24 hectare 1er cru section of the Grand Champs vineyard – many others have Grands Champs – but there’s is villages.
Open, complex, darker fruit – less overtly inviting though. Ooh that’s good in the mouth, round, perfumed fruit, melting fresh mid-palate flavour. Lovely finishing wine – excellent. Super long…

2016 Volnay 1er Santenots
From Santenots Blanc – ‘When grandfather bought it, it was indeed planted to white but eventually he decided to change’- 25 hl/ha again
High tones and deep low tones – dark-red fruited. Sleek, direct, taking no prisoners. Still the texture is fine, velvet from the tannin. But this primary fruited and a keeper… Only right at the end of the finish it opens out nicely. Be patient…

2016 Volnay 1er Champans
From the northern side of the vineyard, close to Carelles Sous la Chapelle.
Less depth of aroma but more width of fruit and less dark fruit than the Santenots. Quite some structure here, a little austerity, but the flavours melt in a fine way over the palate. Wait again, but there is a good wine here…

2016 Volnay 1er Clos des Chênes
From 2 parcels, a large top to bottom parcel in the middle of the vineyard and a smaller parcel at the southern end of the vineyard next to Monthelie – both above the road. Maybe 10% whole clusters here – depends on the vintage, but usually it’s only this and the Champans that might get some whole clusters. More remontage than pigeage these days – ‘it is always too easy to extract this wine.’
Not the most open nose but one with a strong and concentrated core of medium-red colour cherry fruit. Fresh, extra width of fruit flavour – lots of concentration here – the tannin is velvet textured though more of an afterthought. Sustaining a modest intensity but wide finishing flavour. Less communication here vs the Champans…