2023 Volnay Village

David Rebourgeon greeted me at his Pommard winery that lies virtually adjacent to Thibaut Clerget’s – two vignerons that are giving the village a bit of pep. “I did not do any green harvest as I have less productive older vines,” Rebourgeon tells me. “The problem is that the vines can overcompensate. [Something that several other winemakers claim.] I did very few treatments. It was a precocious vintage, the harvest starting on September 3 for the whites and the reds four days later, finishing on September 13 or 14. I used a double sorting table. The Pommards were picked before the Volnays. There is no use of whole bunch in 2023, and the Pommard Premier Crus are aged in around 30% new oak from several cooperages using various levels of toasting. The alcohol level is a little higher than 2022 between 13.8% and 14.0%. They will be bottled from January.”

Rebourgeon’s wines epitomize the 2023 vintage. I felt that the entry-level wines had their shortcomings whilst the Volnays seemed overwhelmed by the vintage, showing some sur-maturité. Moving on to the Pommards, it was akin to a different growing season – supremely gifted wines with concentration, freshness and precision, suggesting that the earlier-picked fruit bestowed the best 2023s. Irrespective of my reservations toward some of his cuvées, Rebourgeon is a quietly gifted winemaker who is going to oversee many great wines in the future.