2013 Domaine Jean-Marc Bouley Volnay, Cote de Beaune

A blend of several parcels from the lower reaches of the appellation on deep clayey soils raised in 20% new oak, the 2013 Volnay Village has a tightly wound, floral bouquet with violet petal and granitic scents infusing the brambly red berry fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with chalky tannins. This feels quite rigid in the mouth, a mixture of blackberry and raspberry fruit complemented by a dash of white pepper that enlivens what is a masculine, structured finish. Even though this is a village cru, this deserves two or three years in bottle.

Neal Martin robertparker.com

It was a pleasure to meet one of Volnay's rising stars, Thomas Bouley at the domaine. Parking the car outside the domaine is a pain in the derrière, located in the narrow winding roads of “downtown” Volnay but it is worth persevering, and upstairs where we taste offers a marvelous vista across the vineyards below, and on a sunny day, the Alps on the horizon. "It was a very difficult vintage with water, water and water," he told me. "It was raining and raining and raining. Some of the vines at the bottom had ducks swimming between the rows! Tractors were getting stuck in the mud. It was the first time we sprayed with an atomizer. There was a constant pressure of mildew. We lost at least 50% of the crop due to hailstorm on 23 July, especially affecting the lower reaches of Volnay and Pommard Fremiers, but every plot was affected to some degree. We were lucky because we had beautiful weather during the summer until the beginning of summer, with good light and plenty of sunshine. Still, two weeks before the harvest the berries were still bitter, so we had to wait, but one week later the skin was much softer and the fruit much rounder and the bitterness had gone. We started the harvest on October 3 and my father cannot remember the last time that he started picking in that month. We finished on October 10 after it had been a bit cold and wet during the picking. We did not have to do so much sorting as we had naturally low yields due to the hail. The malolactics were completed in the normal time, finishing by the spring. I can't believe the quality of the wines when I think about the growing season. It makes me think that even when the weather is bad we can make good wine - but it is because of the yield." Like Thomas said, the quality here is much better than you would have expected. There is a consistency here across the range, perhaps the entry-level wines better than I anticipated but his top cuvees capped by the challenges of the season. The highlight is a superb Pommard 1er Cru les Rugiens that really shone out – one of the best that I encountered.

The Bouley family can trace their winemaking lineage back to the early 14th century and Jean-Marc took over the family domaine in 1985 after the death of his father. Today the estate spans 12 hectares in Volnay, Pommard and Beaune. Since 2006 winemaking is carried out by his son Thomas, who returned to France after vintages in Oregon and Felton Road in New Zealand. These are wines that bridge the gap between traditional Burgundy & the New World, showing superb transparency of terroir, superb purity and fruit density throughout their length. Considered by many to be one of the rising stars of the Côtede-Beaune

Volnay is a village in the Côte de Beaune sub-region of Burgundy, renowned for making some of the smoothest, most delicate Pinot Noir wines of the southern Côte d'Or.