2018 Volnay Les Santenots 1er Cru

Unfortunately I visited Thierry Glantenary on a thoroughly miserable, rainy day, denying me the panorama across to the Alps that you can enjoy from his hilltop living room-cum-tasting room on a clear day. "The picking date is more important when the sugars are increasing so quickly in early September," Glantenary told me. This is a fundamental point that is often forgotten. Picking later in the month when daylight hours are shorter means that sugar accumulation is slower. That is why a day's difference has greater impact on the wine when harvest commences in late August/early September. "We started the harvest on 1 September apart from the very young vines that had already reached ripeness and in 2018, there is also a huge difference in the time span in picking the whites. The yields were good, averaging around 38hl/ha. Everything is in barrel."