2009 Volnay Clos des 60 Ouvrées 1er Cru

Patrick Landanger told me he had very small yields in 2016 but relatively little frost. In his holdings on the Côte de Nuits, for example, he suffered some frost losses in his Chambolle-Musigny village vines and in Clos de la Roche “but not much elsewhere.” Even in Volnay, yields were between 30 and 35 hectoliters per hectare. Mildew was a challenge, though. Landanger noted that his vineyard manager asked him to switch from organic to chemical sprays to more effectively address the problem, but Landanger refused.

Landanger started harvesting on September 26 and picked into October. Although he had done a bit of experimentation with whole clusters in 2015, Landanger destemmed entirely in ’16. Following a seven-day cold maceration, Landanger typically carries out two pigeages per day at the beginning of the fermentation, then up to five a day during the peak. He allows the cap of the wine to fall slowly, which can bring about seven or eight days of post-fermentation maceration. As is typically the case here, the ‘16s had been moved to tanks just after the 2017 harvest—or about a month before my November visit. The wines, says Landanger, feature very clean fruit, and he believes that although they will last a long time, they will also taste good early. Incidentally, Landanger has increased his use of 1,600-liter amphoras fabricated by an Italian company called Terranova. He made special cuvées of his Volnays Caillerets, Clos de la Bousse d’Or and Clos des 60 Ouvrées; two of the three amphoras of each were reserved for separate bottlings, while the third went into the estate’s “normal” release.

Patrick Landanger told me he had very small yields in 2016 but relatively little frost. In his holdings on the Côte de Nuits, for example, he suffered some frost losses in his Chambolle-Musigny village vines and in Clos de la Roche “but not much elsewhere.” Even in Volnay, yields were between 30 and 35 hectoliters per hectare. Mildew was a challenge, though. Landanger noted that his vineyard manager asked him to switch from organic to chemical sprays to more effectively address the problem, but Landanger refused.

Landanger started harvesting on September 26 and picked into October. Although he had done a bit of experimentation with whole clusters in 2015, Landanger destemmed entirely in ’16. Following a seven-day cold maceration, Landanger typically carries out two pigeages per day at the beginning of the fermentation, then up to five a day during the peak. He allows the cap of the wine to fall slowly, which can bring about seven or eight days of post-fermentation maceration. As is typically the case here, the ‘16s had been moved to tanks just after the 2017 harvest—or about a month before my November visit. The wines, says Landanger, feature very clean fruit, and he believes that although they will last a long time, they will also taste good early. Incidentally, Landanger has increased his use of 1,600-liter amphoras fabricated by an Italian company called Terranova. He made special cuvées of his Volnays Caillerets, Clos de la Bousse d’Or and Clos des 60 Ouvrées; two of the three amphoras of each were reserved for separate bottlings, while the third went into the estate’s “normal” release.

Patrick Landanger surprised me in November by asserting that “2015 is a good year but 2016 is even better.” He explained that the 2015s are “easy-drinking wines but they may gain in sweetness with three more months of élevage.” For the past three years, Landanger has carried out a stricter sorting than ever before but has also gone against the grain by increasing extraction. He now does more frequent pigeages--up to five or six times a day during the early stage of the fermentation—“but with a suppler device, a pneumatic pigeur with nothing violent about it.” He also emphasized that in his multi-level winery, he never has to pump his wines. Still, the distinctly black-fruit character of these 2015s no doubt is due to a combination of later harvesting and extractive winemaking.

Landanger’s 2015 were racked to floating-top stainless steel tanks about three weeks before my visit, but were still on their lees “to round out the rough edges of their tannins.”

Landanger ages his wines in about 30% new oak, but more like 50% for his two grand crus from the Côte de Nuits. But in 2015, he conducted an experiment with 800-liter terracotta amphoras in an attempt to make the most natural, pure wine as possible, without the use of sulfur dioxide or barriques. He made two versions of his Volnay en Caillerets and plans to use amphoras for three of his Volnay premier crus in 2016. When I asked Landanger how long the 2015s will age, he responded with his standard line on this subject: “I always promise my clients that my wines will last 40 years.”

Patrick Landanger described 2014 as “good but not great,” noting that he doesn’t yet understand the vintage He believes that it’s at roughly the same level of quality as the previous three vintages As is his normal practice, Landanger bottled the 2014s in early February of 2016

Patrick Landanger described 2014 as “good but not great,” noting that he doesn’t yet understand the vintage. He believes that it’s at roughly the same level of quality as the previous three vintages. As is his normal practice, Landanger bottled the 2014s in early February of 2016.

Probably the most important thing to know about the wines that Patrick Landanger makes at his Domaine de la Pousse d’Or is that he is willing to take risks to wait until his grapes reach potential alcohol levels of at least 12. 8%. And the grapes were fully ripe in 2014, he told me in November. The crop levels were higher than those of the previous year but the material was a bit richer, he added.

As is normal at this estate, the 2014s had been in cuve since mid-October and were slated to be bottled in January. Landanger, whose son Patrick now vinifies with him, told me that he only filters the bottom one-sixth of every tank. He attempts to accentuate terroir differences by aging all of his wines in 30% new oak from Séguin-Moreau and François Frères. Landanger’s purchase of the old Moine-Hudelot estate in Chambolle-Musigny in 2008 has been looking more and more prescient in recent vintages, as his home village of Volnay has suffered from extremely low crop levels since 2012. Incidentally, Landanger told me that virtually all of the Moine-Hudelot vines are 25 to 30 years of age—in other words, not too old.

Patrick Landanger told me he finds his 2014s a bit richer than his 2013s. But he likes the 2013s and believes they will be good young. He insisted that he carried out his normal extraction, as he was confident about the health of his raw materials.

Patrick Landanger told me in November that he "guarantees his wines for 40 years," then added that he prefers to drink them on the young side for their youthful fruit. After a strict sorting on a "table de trie visuelle," he produced just 20 to 25 hectoliters per hectare in 2013. Landanger, who recently hired Hubert de Rossignol as his new chef de culture, told me that he did a lot of pigeage in 2013 but not during the seven days of cold maceration. He did a supple ("not violent") punchdown five times a day during the five or six days of the actual fermentations. Landanger told me he aged all of his wines in roughly the same 30% new oak, although, as is his usual practice, the wines had been racked into cuves in October. He anticipated bottling the 2013s during the second half of January. I found the Côte de Beaune wines very cleanly made, without hail taint, although a few of the wines are very tightly coiled.

I found a few of Patrick Landanger's highly concentrated 2012s from the Côte de Beaune to be tough going in November but his 2015 Clos de la Roche may be the best wine he's crafted to date from the Moine-Hudelot vineyards he purchased in 2008. He told me that he has been extracting more in the past three years, bucking the general trend on the Côte d'Or, but that he has been doing "a much better trie" and thus begins with higher-quality fruit.

Patrick Landanger began harvesting on September 22, which he admitted was late for Volnay."I can correct for rot and acidity but I can't correct a lack of maturity," he explained.He looks for 12.8% natural alcohol and eliminated 7% or 8% of the fruit on his sorting table.Landanger noted that he bought a special machine prior to the 2011 harvest to eliminate insects after the fruit has been sorted on the table de trie."This machine never gets sick or tired," he noted, adding that he was the first in the region to have one.According to Landanger, Vincent Girardin has purchased the same device, and Jadot now has one as well.As is usually the case here, the wines were in tank by the time of my November visit, and Landanger hoped to bottle them unfiltered, "except for the bottom of each tank."Landanger carried out a six-day cold maceration in 2012, did two to four pigeages per day, plus one remontage and a delestage.But the raw material was quite powerful (the estate-wide yield was barely 14 hectoliters per hectare, according to Landanger), and the wines in most cases do not appear to be overextracted.Landanger, who has consistently told me that he enjoys drinking his red Burgundies on the young side, is confident that this vintage has the structure and acidity for long aging.He uses roughly 30% new oak across the board. (A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, www.northberkeleyimports.com; Ideal Wine & Spirits, www.idealwine.us; Craft+Estate/The Vintner Group, www.craftandestate.com; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, www.shiverick.com)

The differences in 2012 between the Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits are very clearly marked in these upcoming releases from Pousse d'Or. The wines from the Côte de Beaune are intense to the point of masking some of the terroir characteristics of these sites, while in the Côte de Nuits, wines are truer to type and place. The 2012s spent a total of 21 days on the skins and were moved into tank during the second half of October. I tasted the wines from steel with the exception of the Clos d'Audignac, which, because of the low yields, was sitting perilously close to the level of the spigot in a large, and mostly empty tank.

"We're always the last in Volnay to pick," said Patrick Landanger in November, adding that his 2011 fruit came in with around 12.8% potential alcohol and that he chaptalized lightly "to prolong the end of the fermentations." Landanger does not see a huge difference between 2011 and 2010. "Perhaps the 2011s will be easier to drink before the 2010s," he told me. The 2011s had been assembled in cuves in October. Landanger admitted that he enjoys drinking his Burgundies young. "They go through an awkward stage at about age 6 or 7. So you can drink them early for their fruit or wait 10 or 12 years." He now uses about 30% new oak for all of his wines. "I used a bit more for the grand crus in 2010, but I thought they marked the wines too much," he explained. (A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, www.northberkeleyimports.com; H2Vino, www.h2vino.com; and Ideal Wine & Spirits, www.idealwine.us; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, www.shiverick.com)

Patrick Landanger was out of the country on one of his many business ventures, so I tasted this year with cellarmaster Christophe Bouillot, who formerly taught for 22 years at the Lycee Viticole de Beaune. Bouillot told me that the estate made sparing use of its concentrator in 2010: "We reduced the volume by only about 6%, which did not affect the balance of the wines." At Pousse d'Or, the vats are cooled to 50 degrees in stainless steel tanks for seven days of maceration a froid, then fermented with all wild yeasts from the vineyards. Five or more punchdowns per day are the rule here, but there is generally no post-fermentation maceration (total time on the skins was 20 to 23 days in 2010, according to Bouillot). I was very impressed by the noble tannins of the best 2010s cuvees here, and it was a treat to be able to see the line-up of wines produced from the Moine-Hudelot vineyards that Landanger purchased in 2008. The 2010s had been moved into tanks a month to my visit following very late malolactic fermentations; in fact, the Volnay Clos des 60 Ouvrees had just finished its malo in tank. (A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; H2Vino, Chicago, IL; and Ideal Wine & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA)

After seeing Henri Boillot, who surprised me when he told me he didn't start harvesting his pinot until September 15, I went directly across Volnay to see Patrick Landanger, who began harvesting on the 22nd. "My enologist said I had good balancing acidity in 2009," Landanger explained, adding that his wines' pHs are in the 3.45 range. Landanger recently purchased what he described as an electronic triage machine, which he uses after his destemmed grapes are sorted on a vibrating table. This extra step results in a loss of liquid, which he says is "like a natural saignee." Still, 2009 brought a healthy crop level averaging 42 hectoliters per hectare, 20% above the 35 he normally expects to get. This vintage, by the way, will feature the first set of wines from the holdings of Domaine Moine-Hudelot, which Landanger purchased in June of 2008 following the retirement of Daniel Moine. Landanger was able to prune these vines in the spring of 2009 but not in 2008, so he sold off all his grapes to Bichot in the earlier vintage. (A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; H2Vino, Chicago, IL; and Ideal Wine & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA)

This is a stunning set of wines from Patrick Landager. The vintage has yielded a set of super-sized, big wines that may shock some readers for their sheer intensity. These are among some of the most backward 2009s I tasted and will require considerable patience. The estate now farms a total of 19 hectares, which includes the vineyards Landager acquired when he bought Domaine Moine-Hudelot a few years back. In 2009 Landager started harvesting on September 22, when most people were already finished picking. Cuvaison started with 5-6 days of cold maceration and lasted a total of three weeks with one punchdown in the morning and a second in the afternoon. The wines spent 12-15 months in oak (roughly 30% new) on their fine lees with no rackings until they were prepared for bottling, which took place with no fining or filtration. (note: the Chambolles saw 50% new oak). All of The 2009s were bottled in early February 2010.

My visit with Patrick Landanger was a truncated affair this year, as a Saturday afternoon mini-marathon on the Cote de Beaune made it impossible to maneuver a car anywhere near the village of Volnay. In the end, I ditched my car by the Route Nationale and made the long trek up the hill on foot, somehow managing to dart between a rushing stream of runners without causing a pile-up. The visit was worth the effort, as the 2007s here are quite promising. Landanger did a strict selection and ultimately produced just 26 hectoliters per hectare, or not much more than half of 2006's level. Plus, he told me, a small hailstorm in Volnay on August 25 was like a "little green harvest." As is usually the case, the wines were in cuve by the time of my November visit. (A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; H2Vino, Chicago, IL; and Ideal Wine & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA)

Patrick Landanger carried out a week-long pre-fermentation cold soak following the 2006 harvest, doing some light punchdowns and pumpovers during this period. "The color came quickly in 2006, but not the tannins," he told me. And so he did a bit more than his normal two or three pigeages per day during the fermentation. Landanger started picking on the late side for the Cote de Beaune (September 23), bringing in fruit with potential alcohol ranging from 12.8% up to 13.5% in his Corton grand crus; a couple of his wines struck me as a bit grenache-like, in the manner of some California pinots. The '06s were assembled in floating-top tanks in October and were slated for bottling in late January. The 2005s I tasted here in November are the strongest set of wines Landanger has bottled to date. (A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA)

Patrick Landanger carried out a week-long pre-fermentation cold soak following the 2006 harvest, doing some light punchdowns and pumpovers during this period. "The color came quickly in 2006, but not the tannins," he told me. And so he did a bit more than his normal two or three pigeages per day during the fermentation. Landanger started picking on the late side for the Cote de Beaune (September 23), bringing in fruit with potential alcohol ranging from 12.8% up to 13.5% in his Corton grand crus; a couple of his wines struck me as a bit grenache-like, in the manner of some California pinots. The '06s were assembled in floating-top tanks in October and were slated for bottling in late January. The 2005s I tasted here in November are the strongest set of wines Landanger has bottled to date. (A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA)

Patrick Landanger described his 2005 vintage as "a return to normal"-following 2004, when the primary and secondary fermentations went very slowly, and 2003, when everything happened at warp speed. The fruit in 2005, he went on, had excellent balance: no chaptalization, acid additions or concentration of the must were necessary. Still, he added, the 2002 vintage yielded richer and more powerful wines. Crop levels averaged a mere 33 hectoliters per hectare in 2005. (A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA) Also recommended: Santenay Clos Tavannes (86).

Patrick Landanger described his 2005 vintage as "a return to normal"-following 2004, when the primary and secondary fermentations went very slowly, and 2003, when everything happened at warp speed. The fruit in 2005, he went on, had excellent balance: no chaptalization, acid additions or concentration of the must were necessary. Still, he added, the 2002 vintage yielded richer and more powerful wines. Crop levels averaged a mere 33 hectoliters per hectare in 2005. (A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Los Angeles, CA) Also recommended: Santenay Clos Tavannes (86).

Patrick Landanger told me he picked late in 2004, "with too much sugar. "As a result, he added, the wines went into barrel with a bit of sugar yet to be fermented, and the malos were very slow to finish. Most of these wines finished their secondary fermentations only in September of 2005 and were in tank by November, but a few, including Landanger's two Corton cuvees, were not yet finished and were impossible to assess with confidence. Helped immeasurably by his high-tech winery, which is on six levels, Landanger did a trie in the vines, then a further sorting on a vibrating triage table, followed by another selection after the destemming process, sometimes berry by berry. The ultimate production in 2004 was just 27 hectoliters per hectare, according to Landanger. "For me, the hail was a good thing," he maintained. "It was like a green harvest; it corrected the high yield. "Landanger noted that he normally prunes his vines with the objective of getting 35 hectoliters per hectare without having to do a green harvest, but pointed out that the yield in 2003 was cut in half by the extreme heat of the summer. "For me 2003 is not a great vintage, and it's not a vin de garde," Landanger maintained. "Everything was too quick:the harvest, the fermentation, the malolactic. The wines were delicious by the January after the harvest!But they're very good to drink, even if the 2004s will last longer. "(A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH)

Patrick Landanger told me he picked late in 2004, "with too much sugar. "As a result, he added, the wines went into barrel with a bit of sugar yet to be fermented, and the malos were very slow to finish. Most of these wines finished their secondary fermentations only in September of 2005 and were in tank by November, but a few, including Landanger's two Corton cuvees, were not yet finished and were impossible to assess with confidence. Helped immeasurably by his high-tech winery, which is on six levels, Landanger did a trie in the vines, then a further sorting on a vibrating triage table, followed by another selection after the destemming process, sometimes berry by berry. The ultimate production in 2004 was just 27 hectoliters per hectare, according to Landanger. "For me, the hail was a good thing," he maintained. "It was like a green harvest; it corrected the high yield. "Landanger noted that he normally prunes his vines with the objective of getting 35 hectoliters per hectare without having to do a green harvest, but pointed out that the yield in 2003 was cut in half by the extreme heat of the summer. "For me 2003 is not a great vintage, and it's not a vin de garde," Landanger maintained. "Everything was too quick:the harvest, the fermentation, the malolactic. The wines were delicious by the January after the harvest!But they're very good to drink, even if the 2004s will last longer. "(A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH)

Patrick Landanger does a debudding in the spring with the aim of producing just 35 hectoliters per hectare.He's not a believer in green harvesting.On the contrary:he is convinced that the vines simply lose energy as the sap has already risen by the time a percentage of the fruit is eliminated.In his sophisticated, multi-level winery, Landanger carries out two triages, one before and one after the clusters are destemmed.Landanger acidified the 2003 musts at the outset, then did only two punchdowns through the entire fermentation and no pumpovers at all.The malos happened quickly, but Landanger left the wines on their lees, which he felt was critical for avoiding oxidative aromas.The 2003s remained in barrel until the end of October, or a bit longer than the 2002s given that they were harvested beginning on August 25.These wines are very ripe but mostly avoid the cooked side of the vintage.The excellent 2002s were bottled between December of 2003 and February of 2004, without fining or filtration.(A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH)

Patrick Landanger does a debudding in the spring with the aim of producing just 35 hectoliters per hectare.He's not a believer in green harvesting.On the contrary:he is convinced that the vines simply lose energy as the sap has already risen by the time a percentage of the fruit is eliminated.In his sophisticated, multi-level winery, Landanger carries out two triages, one before and one after the clusters are destemmed.Landanger acidified the 2003 musts at the outset, then did only two punchdowns through the entire fermentation and no pumpovers at all.The malos happened quickly, but Landanger left the wines on their lees, which he felt was critical for avoiding oxidative aromas.The 2003s remained in barrel until the end of October, or a bit longer than the 2002s given that they were harvested beginning on August 25.These wines are very ripe but mostly avoid the cooked side of the vintage.The excellent 2002s were bottled between December of 2003 and February of 2004, without fining or filtration.(A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; and Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH)

At the harvest of 2001, owner/winemaker Patrick Landanger put two dozen workers at two sorting tables with the task of throwing out the hail-affected grapes from his Volnay vineyards-then later declassified his best barrels of premier cru juice into a single Volnay villages bottling and sold off the rest.Further evidence of Landanger's commitment to reviving quality at this domain which he purchased in 1997:he prunes short with the objective of producing just 33 hectoliters per hectare, then does a green harvest during the summer if it's necessary to hold yields down. Landanger harvested eight days after the ban in 2002, and did not chaptalize or acidify his musts.Landanger's 2002s, which will be his best set of wines to date, were made entirely without being pumped (and no remontage either) in his new state-of-the-art winery.The wines were in floating-top tanks in November, in preparation for a January bottling.Landanger told me that the barrel cellar in his multi-level facility is 25 meters underground:in the Saharan heat of the summer of 2003, the temperature barely reached 60oF.(A Peter Vezan selection; imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA; Dionysos Imports, Lorton, VA and Vin Divino, Chicago, IL; also imported by Langdon-Shiverick, Cleveland, OH)

Patrick Landanger sold his medical equipment company and purchased the Domaine de la Pousse d'Or from the consortium that owned it in late 1997. He immediately set to work constructing a jewel box of a winery, amazingly high-tech and sophisticated for a relatively small Burgundy domain. (Following the purchase of some Corton Bressandes and Corton Clos du Roi, Landanger now owns 15 hectares of vines; the winery was constructed to handle 20.) The facility is organized on six levels, so following the debourbage the wines are never again pumped. Vinification takes place in 50-to-60-hectoliter stainless steel tanks, with the cap punched down twice a day in 2000 and just once in 2001. Landanger has raised the percentage of new oak used for aging the wines to about one-third, with the rest done in once- and twice-used barrels. Landanger himself took over winemaking duties with the '99 vintage, and this is the first vintage he has released (to date, he has held back the '97s and '98s). The estate-wide yield was a hefty 48 hectoliters per hectare in 1999, but just 33 in 2000 owing to a substantial vendange en vert and strict selection at the harvest. Landanger has made remarkable progress in a short time, and it appears that this important estate (traditionally one of the big three of Volnay, along with Lafarge and d'Angerville) is back on track. (A Peter Vezan Selection, imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA: Dionysos Imports, Lorton, VA; and Import!, Madison, WI)

Patrick Landanger sold his medical equipment company and purchased the Domaine de la Pousse d'Or from the consortium that owned it in late 1997. He immediately set to work constructing a jewel box of a winery, amazingly high-tech and sophisticated for a relatively small Burgundy domain. (Following the purchase of some Corton Bressandes and Corton Clos du Roi, Landanger now owns 15 hectares of vines; the winery was constructed to handle 20.) The facility is organized on six levels, so following the debourbage the wines are never again pumped. Vinification takes place in 50-to-60-hectoliter stainless steel tanks, with the cap punched down twice a day in 2000 and just once in 2001. Landanger has raised the percentage of new oak used for aging the wines to about one-third, with the rest done in once- and twice-used barrels. Landanger himself took over winemaking duties with the '99 vintage, and this is the first vintage he has released (to date, he has held back the '97s and '98s). The estate-wide yield was a hefty 48 hectoliters per hectare in 1999, but just 33 in 2000 owing to a substantial vendange en vert and strict selection at the harvest. Landanger has made remarkable progress in a short time, and it appears that this important estate (traditionally one of the big three of Volnay, along with Lafarge and d'Angerville) is back on track. (A Peter Vezan Selection, imported by North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA; Ideal Wines & Spirits, Medford, MA: Dionysos Imports, Lorton, VA; and Import!, Madison, WI)