2005 - Volnay 1er Cru Les Taillepieds, Domaine de Montille

De Montille’s 2005 Volnay Taillepieds – destined to remain for a longer time in its (40% new) barrels than most of de Montille’s other wines – ratchets up the intensity from its predecessors. Aromas of black raspberry, flowers and pungent, charred, dusty, ore-like and crushed stone mineral notes set a serious tone for what follows. Ripe, spiced black fruits and a soy-like savor team up for a palate of terrific richness, palpable density, abundant fine tannins, but also an enormous sense of energy and mouth-watering enticement. Wet stone, chalk, wood smoke, and charred meat make for a somber, low-toned side to this wine’s impressively persistent finish, but neither is there a lack of (black) fruit or savory salinity. This superbly concentrated and structured wine needs at least 10-12 years in the cellar, I suspect. Various importers, including Beaune Imports, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 559 1040. Also, a Thomas Calder Selection, Paris; fax 011-33-1-46-45-15-29

The 2005 Volnay Les Taillepieds 1er Cru has quite the herbal nose, the whole-bunch element quite conspicuous. A light aroma of pencil shavings comes through with time. The palate is medium-bodied and well defined, again, the stems are a bit too vocal for my liking and not as assimilated into the wine as they should be. Just a dab of white pepper surfaces on the finish. Not bad overall, just compromised by too much whole-bunch. Tasted at the Sanglier dinner in Burgundy.

Bright crimson with some blue notes. Very heady and sumptuous. Candied violets on the nose. Maybe this could do with a tad more freshness? Firm tannins underneath but the tertiary aromas are developing nicely. A wine to smell rather than drink at the moment. (JR)