Volnay 2023

Landed Price $146.95

Pre Arrival Price $124.95

24 bottles available

Jancis Robinson MW

No whole bunch this year because the stems were still green. Cask sample. Rather charming and very appealing with no rough edges. A little fine tannin underneath. Just what modern 2023 burgundy should taste like. Maybe not for the long term but masses of fruity appeal. (JR) (Drink between 2028-2038). 17/20

CellarTracker

Popped and poured; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2023 Volnay pours a deep ruby color with a transparent core; medium viscosity with light staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is youthful with notes of forest strawberry, raspberry, Bing cherry, red flowers, sous bois and mixed spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+ and the texture is almost chewy. This is a very pretty, but also quite powerful and certainly fleshy Volnay that I expect this will show a lot more with some time in the cellar. Drink now to enjoy its youth and through 2038. 92 Points

Volnay 1er Cru Le Village 2023

Landed Price $215.00

Pre Arrival Price $182.95

18 bottles available

Located in the centre of the village, in a very sheltered location, which creates a unique micro-climate.

Jasper Morris MW

Much paler in colour but with a really gorgeous fruit, strawberry just ahead of raspberry and really fine length. Without having the density of senior 1ers Crus, Le Village shows an ethereal touch this year. 90-93 Points

Volnay 1er Cru Carelle sous la Chapelle 2023

Landed Price $215.00

Pre Arrival Price $182.95

24 bottles available

This small parcel, thanks the high level of brown limestone in the soil, produces a rounded wine with wonderful aromatics. Always very popular.

Jasper Morris MW

A richer purple. Raspberry and ripe redcurrant, vigorous and fresh while cherry jam adds itself to the flavours on the palate, accessible yet with some substance. 90-92 Points

Neal Martin, Vinous

The 2023 Volnay Carelle 1er Cru has a well-defined bouquet with brambly red fruit and a touch of sous-bois opening discretely in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip and a little spice box note on the opening. It's nicely structured with quite an elegant finish. Drink it over the next decade. (Drink between 2026-2036). 90-92 Points

Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson

Wild strawberries and wet rusty iron on the nose, as well as a soft dustiness that smells like porcini powder. Talc and violets. This is so giving – it's pouring out its soul to you before you've even lifted the glass to your nose. It's strawberries and raspberries with a nip of iodine and a riffle of roses. Tarragon on tiptoes. It has tannins like the peel of old-fashioned red apples, thick and shiny and robustly tannic but fragrantly sweet. A wine that tastes as if it's scrambling to get out the bottle and be in the world and drench your tongue with its gleeful joy and all the stories and gossip of vintage 2023 ('you should have seen how extravagant my neighbouring vine was!!). You could damn convention and drink this now but that doesn't mean it's not a long-distance runner. (Drink between 2025-2040). 17.5/20

Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Rougeotte Monopole 2023

Landed Price $215.00

Pre Arrival Price $182.95

24 bottles available

This wine is a monopole and comes from a vineyard tucked in close to the village. It is surrounded by high walls and has a marly soil rich in clay.

Jasper Morris MW

The colour is a little deeper than Le Village, and while the Clos de la Rougeotte is currently slightly muted on the nose, it is gorgeously svelte with a rich bright cherry fruit on the palate. I suspect that Marc-Olivier Buffet has timed the picking date to perfection, while the finish is very persistent. 91-94 Points

Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson

Full bottle 1,363 g. The label says Rougeottes, not Clos de la Rougeotte – we're using the Sylvain Pitiot name for the premier cru. There is a remarkable, hypnotic creaminess that sort of offsets and lifts up the intensity of the silky sweetness of this crimson-breasted wine with its feathered tannins. It’s a wine that takes wing on murmurations of iron without weight across sky without boundaries. Iron, flower, cherry, long alto, bleeding red into all the spaces. Fine and flying. (Drink between 2025-2041). 17/20

CellarTracker

En Primeur barrel sample. Half hectare old vines. Largest ever production in 2023 - 45ha/l (usually closer to 23!). Again very pure and pretty red fruit and flowers with stems giving another layer and darker undertones. Ripe but v well balanced. 93-94 Points

***Star Wine***

Volnay 1er Cru Champans 2023

Landed Price $215.00

Pre Arrival Price $182.95

36 bottles available

Jasper Morris MW describes Champans as "quintessential Volnay". This is a very old vineyard recorded as far back as 1252. It produces one of the communes best wines.

Neal Martin, Vinous

The 2023 Volnay Champans 1er Cru takes its time unfolding a mixture of red and black fruit, briar and light sous-bois scents on the nose. The palate is very elegant and more complex than the Carelle. It has fine mineralité and harmony with quite a precise finish. This is a lovely, understated Champans that's well worth seeking out. (Drink between 2026-2044). 92-94 Points

Jasper Morris MW

A clear ruby, not one of the deeper colours. Slightly more raw and briary on the nose, but really complex on the palate, cherry for the bulk, alpine strawberry for the top notes. Well-judged ripeness with adequate acidity and refined tannins. A little riper nonetheless. 91-93 Points

CellarTracker

En Primeur barrel sample. Less sweet/ripe fruit and with a bit more structure. More purple fruit and a hint of liquorice. A bit more powerful but still very refined and balanced. Indeed characterful of the vintage that the power is dialled down and v refined. Long finish. 93 Points

Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chenes 2023

Landed Price $215.00

Pre Arrival Price $182.95

32 bottles available

The big daddy of Volnay!

Neal Martin, Vinous

The 2023 Volnay Clos des Chênes 1er Cru has a delineated and focused bouquet with a discrete floral element. Its pure red fruit notes gain intensity in the glass. The palate is medium-bodied and nicely poised with grainy tannins, gentle grip and a slight lactic note toward the finish that will be subsumed. Very fine. (Drink between 2026-2044). 91-93 Points

Jasper Morris MW

From two plots, one high up on very white soil. Medium deep ruby, with quite an austere nose, not quite giving yet. Elevage is bringing the 2023s on brilliantly, thinks Marc-Olivier, but Clos des Chênes remains a tough beast, albeit with a touch of velvet on the bones and a long finish. 90-93 Points

Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson

Full bottle 1,369 g. 18 months in oak barrels. Light oak spiciness and faint rose petals on the nose. The fruit is very much taking its cue from the oak at the moment and holding well back, although the wine is lip-smackingly juicy. And those tannins, while artlessly raw right now, are limber and seductively long. Rose hips and raspberries, autumn leaves and walnuts and a great swathe of blood-orange sweet-tart acidity flooding the finish. (Drink between 2028-2040). 17/20

Pommard 2023

Landed Price $146.95

Pre Arrival Price $124.95

24 bottles available

Burghound

Here the nose is clean and expressive with its nose of ripe dark berries and warm earth. There is very good volume and better density to the middle weight flavors that are at once succulent and delicious while delivering fine length for a villages-level wine. Worth a look. (Drink starting 2029). 89-91 Points

Neal Martin, Vinous

The 2023 Pommard Village includes one-third Premier Cru fruit as usual. It has a classy bouquet with dark berry and forest floor scents. The palate is quite ripe and candied on the opening, with touches of blueberry, vanilla and strawberry pastille on the finish. Fine. (Drink between 2025-2038). 88-90 Points

Pommard 1er Cru Clos Micot 2023

Landed Price $215.00

Pre Arrival Price $182.95

12 bottles available

On the Volnay side of Pommard and one of only two Premier Crus on the eastern side of the D973. 

Jasper Morris MW

Dense purple with a very youthful red fruit, a bit more gas on the palate, a very intense youthful raspberry essence, enough acidity to accompany the tannins, but especially the fruit concentration. Very long indeed. Monolithic at the moment, but impressive. 90-93 Points

***Star Wine***

Pommard 1er Cru Clos Les Rugiens 2023

Landed Price $271.95

Pre Arrival Price $230.95

24 bottles available

Jasper Morris MW

Not the deepest in colour and rather more subtle on the nose. A refined cherry here, which just builds beautifully on the palate with a fabulous aftertaste. Not the most obviously concentrated but much finer and longer than the Poutures which was picked the same day. 92-94 Points

Neal Martin, Vinous

The 2023 Pommard Les Rugiens 1er Cru is refined on the nose with a mixture of red and black fruit, forest floor and rose petals scents coming through with time. It's not as intense as other vintages but nicely detailed. The palate is medium-bodied with fine delineation, conveying a sense of symmetry that is quite beguiling. Very harmonious on the finish, this is a wonderful Rugiens. (Drink between 2026-2048). 92-94 Points

Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson

Full bottle 1,369 g. From a small plot of century-old vines, ploughed by horse.

Exceptionally fine and yet the tensile strength in the wine is palpable. The deep-crimson fruit, soaring with perfume, tastes as if it has been painstakingly, meticulously, exquisitely stitched with the finest of detail to long, powerful, intricate tannins. It's so fleshy and yet so controlled. You could actually drink this now, with reckless pleasure, but it's clear that it has superb ageing potential. (Drink between 2025-2040). 17.5/20

CellarTracker

En Primeur barrel sample. Over 100 year old vines. Incredibly gives over 40hl/ha. Blue and purple fruit. Their plot 0.17ha. Cherry, blueberries, blackberries and some subtle plum. A certain creaminess to the fruit and clean ferrous minerality giving more depth. Perhaps the highlight of the tasting. 94-95 Points

To order email tracey@grandmillesime.com.au or phone (03) 9326 5737. Wines arrive this weekend.