2015 Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay Clos des Chenes 1er Cru
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Volnay Clos des Chênes 1er Cru has a clean, pure bouquet with more blue fruit than its peers, and offers good detail and poise; hints of pencil box emerge with time, in tandem with damp moss. The palate is medium-bodied, with what feels like some stem addition on the entry, lending freshness and contrast to the red fruit. The persistent, velvety finish shows just a very slight touch of VA on the aftertaste. Yet overall, this is a commendable Clos des Chênes, and it ameliorates in the glass over 10 to 15 minutes. Tasted blind at the annual Burgfest tasting.
Critic scores
Jancis Robinson MW
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
Tasted blind, the 2015 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes is utterly superb, unfurling in the glass with a complex bouquet of raw cocoa, rose petal, orange rind and red berries that's already very nuanced. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, multidimensional and incredibly deep, with supple, satiny tannins, juicy acids and considerable concentration. Tasted among its peers, this Clos des Chênes is in a different class and confirms its status as one of a small handful of red wines of the vintage in the Côte de Beaune. It's a profound Volnay that will be incredibly long-lived.
Bright medium red. Tighter on the nose than the Clos du Château des Ducs, with a minty topnote to the aromas of red berries and spices; a note of red cherry liqueur emerged with air. Superconcentrated and tactile but extremely unevolved; a more masculine style than the Clos du Château des Ducs, showing little of that wine's early sweetness. More tannic and even a touch youthfully angular on the back end, but finishes with palate-staining saline minerality and outstanding building length. This, too, will require significant patience.