Marquis d'Angerville, Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs 2016

robert_parker96

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2016 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs, the famous monopole of the domaine that ostensibly forms Guillaume d’Angerville’s back garden, unequivocally possesses the most complex bouquet this year with mineral-drenched black fruit, briary, cinnamon, cold Alpine stream, strawberry pastilles and orange zest. The palate is medium-bodied with a gentle grip on the entry. This is very pure and focused, a fine backbone here but there is enormous length as it fans out. There is something noble about this wine…or should I say, ducal?

robert_parker95

Reviewed by: William Kelley

The 2016 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs is a stunning young wine, unwinding in the glass with a beautiful but reserved bouquet of rose petal, candied violet, red cherries, plums, dark chocolate and hints of the savory bass-notes to come. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with lovely purity of fruit, dense but velvety tannins and a bright animating line of acidity, concluding with a penetrating and precise finish. There's an energy to the fruit that marks this out as a special vintage for the Clos des Ducs, though it will demand a decade's patience at a minimum.

vinous95

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

Bright, deep red. Deeper-pitched on the nose than the young 2017, offering aromas of cherry, blueberry, menthol and licorice and an impression of medicinal reserve. A juicy, spicy, impeccably balanced midweight with outstanding clarity and cut and an enticing touch of sweetness leavened by spiciness. Plenty of tannin/acid spine here to frame and carry the fruit through a long, rising, floral finish. This tightly wound beauty shows the sappy quality of the vintage's better examples and should be long-lived. It would be a shame not to give it at least four or five more years of cellaring, if not eight or ten. (13.05% alcohol; September 25 harvest; 45 h/h; 3.39 pH; from what Guillaume d'Angerville described as a good crop, as this vintage escaped the frost, whose effects, he said, did not extend higher than 260 meters: Clos des Ducs is 300 to 325 meters above sea level, with very good air flow to dissipate frost)

vinous96

Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer

(from a normal crop of 38 hectoliters per hectare; aging in about 23% new oak, vs. 20% for the rest of these premier crus): Dark ruby. Complex but youthfully restrained aromas of cassis, blueberry, violet and licorice, with a spicy element that Guillaume d'Angerville attributes to the vineyard. Superconcentrated wine with compelling sweetness and energy. An impeccably balanced, potentially great Volnay. Guillaume d'Angerville believes that the vines' windy situation high up on the hillside protected them against the frost in April.

robert_parker95

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

The 2016 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs is a stunning young wine, unwinding in the glass with a beautiful but reserved bouquet of rose petal, candied violet, red cherries, plums, dark chocolate and hints of the savory bass-notes to come. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with lovely purity of fruit, dense but velvety tannins and a bright animating line of acidity, concluding with a penetrating and precise finish. There's an energy to the fruit that marks this out as a special vintage for the Clos des Ducs, though it will demand a decade's patience at a minimum.