2023 Volnay Clos de Verseuil 1er Cru

Thibault Clerget hosted my tasting on the second floor tasting room in Pommard. Over the last decade, he has become one of the leading exponents of wines from Volnay and Pommard (as an aside, sadly, a 1961 Pommard Rugiens made by his grandfather was out of condition at a private dinner that same week, though I have on good authority that ancient bottles can be sublime.) In recent years he has expanded his holdings, constructed a smart new winery and is now applying échelas (stakes) in some of his vineyards. On this occasion, we did not taste the whites as they had just been filtered.

“I did not do a green harvest as I do a strong de-budding,” he tells me. “Also, we do strict sorting at reception. Yields were around 30 hl/ha. If you cropped higher then you risk losing some balance and brightness. We started picking on September 6. I prefer to pick early as the alcohol increases one degree in a week. Temperatures were very high during the picking, so I assumed they would be tannic. It was vital to keep the freshness and the acidity. The wines were racked a month ago and we will bottle in February or March. The highest alcohol level is 13.8%. I like challenging vintages. I think the vintage was better than in 2021 and 2023 may last longer than 2022.”

This is one of the best portfolios that I have tasted from Clerget – a deeply impressive set amongst the finest encountered in the Côte de Beaune. There is certainly none of the excessive tannins that he feared – quite the opposite. You get the sense that he relished the challenge, and that the purity and finesse nearly all his wines exude actually means that yes, they do surpass the previous vintage.