"The 2016 Volnay 1er Cru En Chevret, which comes from 45- and 65-year-old vines cropped at 12 hectoliters per hectare with 50% whole bunch fruit. It has a perfumed, floral bouquet with a mixture of red and black fruit, crushed stone and crushed rose petals all nicely defined, brown spices developing later. The palate is juicy and thickly textured on the entry, one big mouthful of Volnay with a Pommard like backbone. This is clearly built for aging, aloof and rather foreboding at this early stage and so afford it several years in bottle."
(90-92) points, Neal Martin (December 2017)
"(18 hectoliters per hectare; 30% vendange entier): Dark red with ruby tones. Slightly reduced aromas of dark fruits, smoke and rock are less expressive today than those of the Cailleret. Thick and powerful but youthfully clenched, showing less lift and more tannic clout than the Cailleret. These two wines are markedly different in style despite the proximity of the vineyards: this one is more compact, with a more brooding dark fruit character, while the Cailleret is more floral. Rossignol was going to rack this wine but decided not to; as a result, it's much harder to taste today. The tannins reach the front teeth."
(90-92) points, Stephen Tanzer (January 2018)
"An airy, cool and very pretty nose offers up notes of red cherry, raspberry, violet, lavender and just a whiff of spiced tea. There is terrific punch and underlying tension suffusing the caressing but punch middle weight flavors that flash good power and minerality on the moderately firm and highly persistent finish. This isn't as refined as the Caillerets but it is still very good and worthy of your interest."
(91-93) points, Allen Meadows (April 2018)
Volnay is renowned for producing delicate, elegant and graceful wines. The appellation spans 242ha of vineyards, of which 115ha is divided among 26 Premier Crus. Some of the most notable of these are Bousse d'Or, Champans, Clos des Ducs, Les Caillerets and Santenots. Red wine from the Santenots vineyard is labelled as Volnay Santenots.
The wines of Vonay combine distinction, nobility, finesse, elegance, feminity, and an incomparable bouquet. Their robe can range from a tender rose red to the deepest ruby. A delicate bouquet of red berries (raspberry, blackberry) and violets, tannins that may be soft or quite robust, and a gracefully voluptuous palate place these wines among the best representatives of the Côte de Beaune.
