With eight premier cru vineyards – an impressive and enviable portfolio, the domaine is today overseen by Guillaume D’Angerville, following the death of his father Jacques in 2003. Guillaume heads a team which includes his brother-in-law, Renaud de Villette, who had worked alongside Jacques for a number of years, and François Duvivier, in the vineyard and cellar. Renaud, François and Guillaume are acutely aware of their responsibility to these great terroirs.
After years of research and experimentation, the Domaine is now fully biodynamic. In the most simplistic terms, biodynamic viticulture embraces cosmic rhythms, philosophy and metaphysics as much as agricultural disciplines. It encourages a complex variety of species which make for living, breathing soils and healthier, disease-resistant vines. With responsibility for some of the best of Volnay, meticulous care is fundamental to the Domaine’s philosophy and this is reflected in the finished wines. This is a complex estate with the highest rated vineyard being Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs, monopole essentially the garden of main house. These are long-lived wines, at the very top of the quality ladder.
94 Points Allen Meadows
A fresh yet notably ripe nose is composed by liqueur-like aromas of plum, spice and earth. The delicious, refined and once again strikingly pure flavors are a bit less muscular and mineral-driven than those of the Taillepieds yet the tannic spine shaping the lingering if ever-so-slightly warm finish is just as firm. This is going to require at least moderate patience before it begins to be approachable. *Sweet Spot, Outstanding*
93+ Points William Kelley (Wine Advocate)
In contrast to the precocious 2017, the 2016 Volnay 1er Cru Les Champans is tight-knit and reserved and will demand patience. Offering up aromas of plums, cherries, violets, dark chocolate and forest floor, the wine is, medium to full-bodied, chewy and firm, with lovely depth at the core but an imposing, muscular chassis of fine-grained tannin that asserts itself on the finish. I have no concerns about the balance of this Champans, but readers should plan on waiting at least a dozen years before pulling corks.
93-95 Points Jasper Morris (Inside Burgundy)
Long rows, with just the lower part suffering from the frost, on deeper clay soil at the bottom, poorer soil above. Medium crimson colour, interesting complex aromatics with both fruit and flowers. Some more tannin here, interesting breadth of flavour and length.