2015 Volnay Clos des Ducs 1er Cru
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Tasting notes
Saturated dark red-ruby. Deep, powerful aromas of kirsch, menthol, licorice and dark chocolate, along with a faint musky nuance. Wonderfully rich and enveloping wine, with its distinctly dark fruit flavors accented by pepper and spices. At once dense and energetic owing to its sappy minerality and surprising back-end acidity, this wine is nonetheless a bit of a bruiser, as its fully ripe but serious mouth-clenching tannins are going to need time to resolve. But the wine's impressive salty, mineral-driven persistence suggests that it will be long-lived. (13.5% alcohol; September 6 harvest; 35 h/h produced; 3.36 pH; d'Angerville attributed the unusually dark color of this wine to drought conditions in Volnay from mid-June to early August)
Critic scores
Neal Martin
William Kelley, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Drought mid June to early August. Harvest 6 September, yield 35 hl/ha, pH 3.36. Particularly dense colour because of the vintage, very dense crimson. Quite sumptuous broad nose and with a bit more obvious heat and ripeness than, say, on the 2016. Not nearly as integrated as the 2016. (JR)
The 2015 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs from Domaine Marquis d'Angerville is a lovely rendition of this great wine, offering up a lovely bouquet of rose petal, red cherry, orange rind and raw cocoa. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, ample and layered, with a deep core of concentrated and crunchy fruit, bright acids, and a long, tangy finish of wonderful purity. This is a great Clos des Ducs in the making.
Dark ruby-red but a bit less deeply colored than the Champans. Alluring, expressive aromas of black cherry, minerals, black pepper and spices. Enters with outstanding silky refinement, then shows uncommon saline energy in the mid-palate, with wonderfully tactile flavors of red and black fruits, spices, flowers and minerals. The stunning whiplash of a finish conveys pronounced soil-driven minerality, a sexy suggestion of torrefaction and great length. This wine and the Champans deliver a magical combination of silkiness, density and energy.
About the producer
Marquis d'Angerville is synonymous with the village of Volnay, having long made some of the village’s finest wines. Best known for its Premier Cru monopole vineyard, Clos des Ducs, this estate crafts fine-boned, elegant styles of Pinot Noir – wines that act as standard-bearers for the appellation.