Clos des Chênes Volnay 1er Cru Pinot Noir

Glory is this wine. Just one of the best wines in Burgundy now. After the 22 I had large expectations and this surpassed them. Nose is just bananas. Not literal bananas. The other type of bananas. The most complex cherry diaspora. Sour, mid season, late season and black. Spice galore and florals up the wazoo. Earth, limestone, dead leaves, living leaves and wet leaves. The nose is a 9.8 on the pop and pour. Just insane. Wild mint. What stands out the most is the layering and the clarity. Also the breadth. Wow that inner mouth perfume and endless, boundless energy that has the same fruit energy as La Tache. What I mean by that is this wine, yes can be about minerals as CDC is rocky, but man the fruit in 22 and now 23 is just in another register. Sappy, poised and clear as the sky is blue on a cloudless day. Yes the tannins are firm but you know with air they will melt into the fruit. The nobility of this site never fails to blow me away. Unreal concentration and density and just insane length. The tannins are velvety, sweet and intense but so so high class. Nose has so much florality, spice and red cherry fruit one cannot believe it. This is just insane. It’s almost a perfect wine. The balance is just beyond and the structure is incredible. This is a 50 year CDC. What a finish. Let’s see where this goes. After an hour the nose is remarkable. So deep, so nuanced, so spicy, so floral. Provocative. Palate is silky, sweet and so dense. Pumps the fruit out like an old set of Wilson Puppies. Unreal balance and purity. But this is built like a brick house. Let’s see where this goes. Will unfurl more but it’s a slow one! The concentration and tiny berry fruit intensity is off the charts. Now after 17 hours open its nose is full blown complex and flat out stunning. The cherry trifecta of sour/mid season and black. Mint and bramble plus wonderful and gorgeous sous bois. Stoney as well. All velvety bramble and such elegant and ripe tannin. A wave. Stunning inner mouth aromas, tiny berry fruit intensity and stunning purity. This seems like it’s more classic than the 22. Even on day 3 this is stunning. Lost nothing.

50th. Simply put one of the most exciting wines I have ever had. Energetic, bright, unreal fruit. Just genius.

Are 18’s finally coming into their own? I think they are. This was stunning.

Took 3-5 hours to really get there. Dusty cherries, earth and lovely desiccated tree bark. Enveloping and so earthy and stoney. Utterly classic. So seductive. Palate is sweet and silky with nice mineral grip and the classic CDC stoniness. Elegant and nimble but lacks a bit of stuffing to be great.

Gorgeous. Refined, silky and elegant and crushes every Pierrick CDC. Amazing showing.

One of the wines that made me fall in love with the Buffet estate. Been a minute since I’ve had it. Chenes aromas just hit different. Wow. Stunning breadth here. So complex. Floral, spice, red cherries. All presented in such detail. Layered, supple and complex. 9.8 nose. Wow. Truly magnificent. Moving me to tears. Or is that my allergies? What a nose. Really just something else. Palate is a joy. Unreal freshness, acids and complexity. Such deep and vivid cherry fruit and a 5% creaminess that just adds so much. Terrific purity, concentration and sap. Velvety and sweet tannins. Unreal length. A masterpiece.

Just insane nose. Heaven. Haunting. Ethereal. Elite Chenes. Floral. Raspberry. Blackberry. Black cherry. Stunning depth and so so elite. 9.9. nose. One can get lost in it. Soft pillow on the nose. OMG nose. A why we hunt Burgundy nose. OMFG palate. Sweet, sappy, silky and so complex. Classy and so distinctive. So well knit. Inner mouth florals. Velvet is amazing. This might be a 9.9. So concentrated. Elite precision. OMG the finish keeps going and going. Why is this not a 9.9? not sure.

Haunting Chenes nose. That combo of ethereal fruit and pulverized rock dust. God damn this nose is complex. Wow. Wood shavings. Tree bark. Just insanely complex. The breeding comes through. Long, juicy and Stoney. Really long. So grippy. So rocky. This is oozing class.

What a nose. Dark cherries. Spice. Very high toned. Superb stoney minerality. Haunting florals. Blackberry. Gorgeous delicacy. Wow. Elite level nose. Haunting. Has so much. Palate is superb. Sweet fruit, stones, laters of finesse, velvety almost pinpoint perfect tannins. Long complex finish that does not quit. Still only around 10% open after 10 minutes. But it’s all there. Wow that’s a long finish. Haunting. Ethereal. Gorgeous, classic CDC. Big tannins but so nimble and they weave in and out on the incredible finish. I’ll be back for an update after some air.

As it airs the breeding becomes more apparent. Incredible refinement and elegance. Wow.

Shimmering, silky fruit. Hint of spice. Very presentable. Beautiful work.