Domaine Marquis d'Angerville Volnay 1er Cru 'Clos des Ducs' 2022

Domaine Marquis d’Angerville forms part of the very fabric of Volnay. The Clos des Ducs, one of the village’s prime vineyards, lies directly behind the family home of the current Marquis, Guillaume d’Angerville.

The domaine, once part-owned by the Dukes of Burgundy, consists of 14 hectares of vines. The vast majority of this – 12.5 hectares – is premier cru, representing over 10% of the total premier cru plantings in Volnay. Guillaume d’Angerville left the world of finance in Paris to take charge of the domaine upon the death of his father, Jacques, in 2003. The domaine has been in the family for over two centuries, having been acquired in 1805. Guillaume has been supported since 2003 by his brotherin-law, Renaud de Villette, who had worked with Jacques for many years. François Duvivier is the domaine’s régisseur (manager), overseeing both the vineyards and the cellar. The Marquis d’Angerville Pinot Noir clones are unique, producing particularly small grapes, meaning a high ‘skin to juice ratio’ and so a high level of natural tannins. The vines were replanted, following phylloxera, by Guillaume’s grandfather, Sem, shortly after his arrival at the domaine in 1906.

A century later, in 2006, the domaine began conversion to biodynamic viticulture and is now wholly biodynamic. In the cellar, the grapes are cooled before fermentation. Extraction focuses on remontage (pumping over) rather than pigeage (punching down). Around a quarter new oak tends to be the maximum. The wines remain in barrel for 15-18 months and are customarily bottled unfined and unfiltered. These are the Volnays that we dream of: elegantly perfumed on the nose, with layered, textured palates. They combine intricate finesse with complexity, power and long ageing potential. Just occasionally, they display a sense of weightlessness which takes your breath away, the soaring flavours seemingly borne from thin air.

After complete destemming, fermentation lasted 10 to 12 days, with a 12 to 18-month élévage in largely used barrels.  To extract fine tannins, the cap was kept moist by twice-daily pump overs.

"This is the only wine in the range to be firmly reduced and aromatically unreadable. Otherwise, there is excellent size, weight and mid-palate concentration to the compact, austere andmore muscular flavors that culminate in a strikingly long, mineral-driven and compact finale. This youthfully austere effort ispotentially brilliant and should age for a very long time, indeed much like the Taillepieds, it’s going to need it." - 96 Points, Burghound

"This wine is inevitably among the great wines from d'Angerville's cellar, but it takes a while to get there. Out of barrel, it lacks the generosity of the Champans; Guillaume d'Angerville opines that it is more 'Cistercian'; by this, he perhaps means more strict, linear, and disciplined. It is substantial and has an admirable depth of flavour, with aromas of currant and plum developing on the palate with hints of cigar leaf, cedar, and earth. Ideally wait seven to 10 years from the vintage to open and drink over the next 20." - 95 Points, Decanter

Producer: Domaine Marquis d'Angerville

Country: France

Region: Burgundy

Varietal: Pinot Noir

Appellation: Volnay 1er Cru

Vintage: 2022

Size: 750ml