Tasted in Volnay with Pierrick Bouley, 05 November 2020.
Domaine Pierrick Bouley
5, Place de l’Eglise
21190 Volnay
Tel: +33 3 80 21 61 69
pascalbouley.com (not currently online)
More reports for Domaine Pierrick Bouley
For a couple of vintages now, wine sold in France retains the old domaine name – Réyane & Pascal Bouley – but the bottles that are exported are now with Pierrick’s name. Pierrick mentions that the market is slower, but the first (covid) confinement delayed release of the 2018s and he thinks that this was helpful; “They were powerful wines that benefitted from not being drunk straight away.”
Pierrick on 2020:
“I think the quality will be good, less rich than 2019, which is my preference. Less than average volume – for the second vintage well under 30 hl/ha – the quantity of grapes wasn’t bad but their small size meant not much juice. It looked like a small volume before pressing and looked even smaller than expected after pressing! 19-25 August for harvesting – never finished in August before – but that was the reds. We went back for our white 5 September. We had plenty of young workers due to covid so had the chance to make some changes to the pallisage of the vines and will decide in 2021 if it was a good idea or not!”
Pierrick on 2019:
“In 2019 I made 25 hl/ha, that was after 40 and 42 in 2017 and 2018 – our aim is 35, but 25 hurts! We had a bit of frost in the Bourgogne at the bottom of the hill, but it was the dryness that had the largest effect on yield. 11 September we started harvesting and destemmed all. Fruity round, fresh and not too rich – it’s a vintage that’s tasting well now. ”
The wines…
I love the flavours here in 2019 – Pierrick has extracted so many picture-perfect Volnays from his terroirs in 2019!
All in tank since the start of September. Pierrick has also started to include the harvest date on his corks – ‘That’s the easiest way for me to remember!’ Bottling to start next week:
2019 Passetoutgrains Nature
Just one barrel. 30% pinot
A wide nose, not obviously of pinot or gammay. That’s got a beautiful texture, a certain richness but with a balancing, insinuating, acidity. The finish is fresh and tasty – always a little savoury background to the nose and flavours
2019 Passetoutgrains Classic
Frank, attractively pure aromas – more my style of wine. There’s more energy, more fruit and a very engaging, mouth-watering finish to this. There’s a little tannin texture that’s not visible on the nature. Delicious wine.
From the bottom of the Volnay commune – Lamboits, still on the ‘right side’ of the road.
A narrow nose, but also one that’s more floral. Fresh, lots of mouth-filling volume, growing a width a fine flavour – this is a delicious baby Volnay. All that I could wish for in a Bourgogne here – bravo!
2019 Monthelie Aux Fournereaux
A deeper nose of darker berry fruit – open, pure, attractive too. More direct and with more drive to the flavour. This has width and just a bit more structure on which to hang its flavours. A touch of finishing bitters that are additive to the experience of this deliciously dark-fruited wine. Simply excellent…
Usually about 10 different parcels assembled, 2 of which on the hillside.
This has a rounder nose – to start it’s less characterful than the monthelie. A wine of stature as well as structure – you can see the concentration here but it’s not a wine of richness – just a little texturally – that’s because it retains such great balance. I’d still be waiting a while for this – 5 or more years – but what a super finish. A ‘simple’ village wine that saturates the palate with flavour, faintly floral finishing…
2019 Volnay Pluchots
70-year-old vines in the heart of the village – a decent size parcel – they don’t separate this every year.
A finer, less forward, though more floral nose. Wide, mouth-filling, a little grab to the texture from the tannin-but no grain. Intense finishing, dark fruit – though still not as dark as the Monthelie. Long. A delicious wine, that’s intense if less overtly concentrated than the Volnay.
2019 Pommard
Hillside parcels, just 20% is from the plain – from the Volnay side of Pommard.
A very nice clarity of fruit. A wine of fresh energy and growing width. The tannic touch, but no grain and not much astringence. The wide panorama of fruit in the finish is completely delicious. Fine concentration and freshness for a villages label – extra floral finishing – very fine in all inferences of that word.
2019 Aloxe-Corton
Third vintage domain wine, 0.30 ha in Les Citernes.
A different aromatic style, fine and wide, but the red fruit has the merest touch of herb to it. There is a powerful wine here – mouth-filling, more structure, more tannin. But the fruit in the middle is lovely – also the finish. Structurally more Pommard than the Pommard!
2019 Beaune 1er Le Clos du Bas de Teurons
Less colour. Also a much more airy and open nose. There’s no lack of volume or mouth-filling flavour though. The structure guarding the shape of the wine and the red fruit more easily accessible than in the Aloxe – though that had slightly nicer fruit. Open, delicate but also persistent in the finish – lovely elegant Beaune.
2019 Monthelie 1er Les Clous
White soil, lots of limestone – ‘it’s like the Clos des Chênes.’ Bought in 2007. This was a villages until reclassified in about 2006/7.
A bit more colour here. A vertical nose – lovely high tones of fruit and flowers but fine depth too. Fresh, incisive, good direction, growing wider as your mouth waters. Love the finishing intensity here, slightly floral – love – such excellent wine.
2019 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
A deeper, slightly reductive nose but still showing plenty of interest. Supple, wide-open flavoured – a mix of the delicate and the perfectly textured here – such delicious Volnay fruit and a nice depth to the flavour too. Cliché delicious Volnay.
2019 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.
More guarded but slowly releasing an extra width of floral aroma. Sleek, fresh, a nice extra muscle here too. Concentrated but never rich. Just a more layered finishing experience. Very deliciously long, again.
The monopoly of this 0.24 hectare 1er cru section of the Grand Champs vineyard – many others have Grands Champs – but their’s is villages.
A width of aroma, less expressive red fruit today but fine enough. A more structural style, but what delicious fruit again. So deliciously persistent, once more. Bravo if the nose shows a bit more character.
2019 Volnay 1er Santenots
From Santenots Blanc – ‘When grandfather bought it, it was indeed planted to white but eventually he decided to change’
An airy freshness of red fruit. Wider, a little structural again – but in width rather than more overall like the Grands Champs. Beautiful, beautiful finishing again – what a range! Just a touch more tannin on the end of the tongue with this one.
From the northern side of the vineyard, close to Carelles Sous la Chapelle. ‘I often thought our young Champans a little hard, I’ve worked on that’
Not the biggest nose – but bravo – what superbly inviting complexity. Depth of flavour, salinity, perhaps a touch of oak but it deserves it! This will be a great bottle – just be patient – if you can!
2019 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.
A more powerful impression from this nose to start but it eases in the glass then starts to liberate floral notes too. Fresh, direct, cool fruit, a touch of barrel like the last but just in some middle flavours. Then the fruit and texture take over. A super burst of finishing flavour here.
Les Blancs
2019 Bourgogne Aligoté
Such a modest volume of aroma after the reds here, but there’s an attractive freshness all the same. Plenty of concentration – slowly widening as the flavour melts over the palate – almost a honied style to the flavour. Very tasty finishing.
2019 St.Romain
A domaine wine
A little more open and with a top to bottom aromatic freshness. That’s actually quite big and rather complex in style vs the average St.Romain. Not a wine of sweeping energy or freshness like many – interesting. Much more a Meursault style of finishing flavour.
2019 Chassagne 1er Abbaye de Morgeot
Fermage but needs a négoce licence.
Compact in terms of depth, but that’s an impressive width of aroma. Supple, concentrated, a little discrete, there’s a richness here – so much concentration I’d like a bit more zip of energy – but there’s flavour to burn, what persistence!