2019 Volnay Les Santenots 1er Cru

Whenever I visit this domaine, I stop to admire the panorama from the top of Clos des Ducs, almost a 180-degree view across towards Mont Blanc over 200km away that becomes visible on a clear day. I have been visiting Glantenay for a number of years and have always found Thierry Glantenay a softly spoken and self-effacing winemaker. “The 2019 vintage was quite special,” he told me in his first-floor kitchen as his daughter returned from school. “It was warm and dry but there were two heat waves at the end of June and end of July that reduced quantity due to burned berries, especially in Santenots. I have slightly less alcohol, on average half a degree less than in 2018, but with more opulence and freshness. I started the harvest on 13 September and finished around a week later, everything picked in a logical order. The Village Crus are completely de-stemmed with partial whole bunch addition for the Premier Crus. The new oak is between 15% and 30%.” This was a fine set of wines crowed by a superb Volnay Clos des Chênes, a vineyard that performed strongly in this vintage, though the winemaker himself has a soft spot for the Caillerets. Readers should also seek out Glantenay’s Volnay Brouillard, an often over-looked and under-estimated Premier Cru.