Tasted in Volnay with Pierrick Bouley, 22 November 2021.
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
Pierrick on 2021:
“Hard but I liked the challenge of bringing in great grapes. We normally make 30-35 Hl/ha and we were ‘only’ about 10% down in volume. We’re half villages – we only lost 10% compared to a normal harvest for us (ie -10% from 30 to 35hl/ha), this loss is especially in the village appellations – Volnay, Aloxe-Corton, Monthelie. We achieved our usual yields in all our Volnay premier crus.”
Pierrick on 2020:
“2020 was dry! We lost 20-30% in some premiers – we had plenty of grapes but not much juice – normally it’s 320-350 kilos of grapes that are needed for a barrel of red – we needed 380 in this vintage. I find the wines powerful but a lighter style that 2018 – we had to barrel quite late because after pressing I got more sugar out of the grapes and let the yeast keep doing its job a while longer. Of course, everything is ripe this year – we started 19 August – waited for a couple of white contracts where I do the harvest – 5th September – they weren’t ready before that.”
The wines…
Not such perfect samples on this day but the wines were very Pierrick in style – and that’s a great style – I’m sure that my notes are very conservative. “All the wines are sulfurless – hence the slightly tired fruit today – but I prefer that to the drying aspect of the sulfur,” smiles Pierrick.
The wines won’t start to be bottled until later in November, and a couple of the 1ers Pierrick is considering a longer elevage:
2020 Passetoutgrains
70% gamay – 30% pinot is the minimum allowed.
Here’s a very attractive freshness of darker red fruit – with energy. Fresh, nice attack to this flavour. There are waves of flavour here with a bit of graphite minerality as complexity.
2020 Bourgogne Côte d’Or Pinot Noir
From the bottom of the Volnay commune – Lamboits, still on the ‘right side’ of the road.
Plenty of colour but not too much. A bit of barrel reduction here. Rounder, more composed, stony wine here – cherry stone flavour and a bit of reduction here too. Great finishing
2020 Monthelie Aux Fournereaux
A little tight but much cleaner, fresher fruit than the Bourgogne today. A little more mouth-filling and with extra freshness. I love the depth of flavour here – fine red fruit of lovely freshness. Waves of finishing flavour too. Very good wine.
2020 Volnay
Usually about 10 different parcels assembled, 2 of which on the hillside.
A very red berry nose – darker red, slightly roast. A slightly roast impression to the fruit but attractive all the same. Fresh, beautifully structured. And very mouth-watering – this has been the style of Pierrick for a while now.
2020 Volnay Pluchots
70-year-old vines in the heart of the village, just below Roncerets – a decent size parcel – they don’t separate this every year.
A similar fruit style to the last with freshness and a slightly roast style. Extra depth to this wine, extra depth to the texture too – the roast aspect less here – it’s the samples not the wine. Very fine tannin – practically no grain. Mouth-watering a great invitation to take another glass.
2020 Pommard
Hillside parcels, just 20% is from the plain – from the Volnay side of Pommard.
A deep nose. Volume and freshness – more depth to this tannin though – it’s proper Pommard but with almost no grain. I like the shape and freshness again.
2020 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.
Much more aromatic volume here and the fruit is showing much more nicely. More perfumed – really super- attractive. The grainless tannin of the other wines – still with a little dryness. But energetic and a great flavour here – the first since the PTG.
2020 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
Starting tight but opening quite quickly with air – freshness and very attractive. Cool fruit, some purity here that has a slightly direct but very mouth-watering style. That’s a really super wine – I like it a lot!
2020 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.
The nose here again a bit less pure. Racy, fresh, cool fruit – ooh – that’s impressive. I think this will be a really excellent wine – I just love the shape of it.
2020 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 their’s is villages.
Here’s an attractive nose – this from tank like the Robardelle – perfumed and pure. Fuller more structural wine but still with a very attractive and very mouth-watering style to the fruit. That’s lovely – very lovely!
2020 Volnay 1er Santenots
From Santenots Blanc – ‘When grandfather bought it, it was indeed planted to white but eventually he decided to change’
Plenty of colour from this tank sample. A fuller nose – lots of aromatic energy here – it’s very lovely! A cool freshness to this wine – quite wide and very mouth-watering. A wine with some power but never heavy. That’s a good one!
2020 Volnay 1er Champans
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’
Back to a sample. The roast, slightly tired nose but more important id the shape and energy which are fine. So complex, fine energy – large-scaled wine. This is mobile and has great presence – it could be excellent!
2020 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 big waft of aromatic energy here – it’s a bit less tired this sample as the fruit has an extra purity. Less drying – mouth-filling volume – that’s really impressive wine – it could be a great Clos des Chênes – hard in hot years but perhaps this one. A big wine, with big enjoyment!
Les Blancs
2020 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. That’s a powerful nose, golden fruit and plenty of freshness. A frame of fine tannin surrounds ripe, delicious, mouth-watering fruit. Very good, delicious aligoté…
2020 Meursault
Three parcels assembled.
That’s a nose of pure fruit and with a ginger spice for all to see. Mineral, wide, mouthwatering – some concentration but never fat. That’s simply delicious. I could drink a few glasses of this…