2022 Volnay Taillepieds

The 2022 Volnay Les Taillepieds 1er Cru has a beautifully defined bouquet, as I wrote before, just "pure Pinote." It shows hints of blood orange that I did not notice from barrel or have since developed. The palate is medium-bodied with filigree tannins that belie the almost Pommard-like backbone of this Volnay. Sapid and quite direct on the finish, this should age with style. Excellent.

Ripe yet attractively fresh aromas of wet stone, plum and a range of floral elements gives way to the super-sleek, intense and delicious flavors that possess a lovely texture on the youthfully austere, hugely long and linear finale that is pungently mineral in character. This is also very classy though note well that like all classic examples of Taillepieds, it's compact, backward and is a wine that absolutely needs time.

Tank sample. Bright, pale crimson. Quite a charmer on the nose. Settled and welcoming. Already there’s an impression of broad and evolved fruit on the palate. But then the undertow of tannins catches up with you … So you could enjoy it pretty soon, but perhaps you shouldn’t. Reverberant finish. This is pinging, bouncing around my palate like a billiard ball. Difficult to suggest a drinking date but assuming it doesn’t close down … (JR)