2014 Volnay Taillepieds

The 2014 Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds has a lively, vivacious bouquet with Morello cherry, raspberry coulis and hints of blackberry coming through with aeration - completely different from the introverted Taillepieds that I encountered out of barrel. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin and well judged acidity, very focused and harmonious, a core of minerals delivered on the sustained finish. This clearly lands at the top of my banded score - a classy Taillepieds that should offer plenty of drinking pleasure over the next 20-25 years.

Lightish cherry. Intense aroma of cherry fruit. Lifted and fragrant and so inviting. Dry, fine-grained texture. Silky and scented and long, though the tannins will give it shape for a good future. They are finely polished. After all that silkiness you realise there is a nice chew on the finish. All held in on the palate for a fine future. (JH)

(45% of this vineyard was replanted last spring):Good deep, bright red. Very pure aromas of red berries, flowers and minerals show an almost liqueur-like ripeness while retaining excellent lift. Silky-sweet on entry, then intense and sharply delineated in the middle, with serious but well-integrated acidity giving the wine excellent inner-mouth tension. The very firm tannins are outlasted by the wine's superb fruit. Made in a rather powerful, masculine style, this wine will need considerable cellar time.