This gorgeous Volnay has all the bases covered with six-plus years of age, a revered vineyard site, universally high praise from the global wine press, a small family estate that farms organically—and after all that, a downright reasonable price!
Sommeliers have spent years waiting for red Burgundy from this vintage to blossom, but this incredible bottle proves that it’s finally time to start pulling corks on your best 2011s. Burgundy lovers should not miss this.
The village of Volnay produces among the most elegant and gorgeously perfumed reds not only in Burgundy, but the world. While Volnay is home to 30 Premier Crus, there is near-universal agreement that five ancient vineyards (Premier Crus “Taillepieds,” “Caillerets,” “Champans,” “Clos des Chênes,” and “Santenots”) produce the village’s top wines. These are Volnay’s unofficial but undisputed Grand Crus. Furthermore, if one seeks the ultimate detail, finesse, and intoxicating aromatics in a village revered for such traits, this already short list gets whittled down to a mere two vineyards: Premier Cru Clos des Chênes and the vineyard that produces this extraordinary wine, Premier Cru Taillepieds. For my money, there are only two producers who consistently pull the finest quality from Taillepieds’ limestone soils. The first is the legendary Hubert de Montille, whose brilliant Taillepieds is virtually impossible to locate outside of high-end restaurants and generally costs upwards of $100/bottle. The second is Vincent Bitouzet, whose Taillepieds reliably receives superior accolades despite costing far less. I’ll choose option #2 every time, and when you tack on some real bottle age, this offer is a surefire winner.
I’ve noted before that when I first became a sommelier in the early 2000s, one could—with the proper resources—compile a diversity of outstanding, cellar-aged Burgundy with relative ease. Unfortunately, acquiring these wines today takes much deeper pockets, better connections, and genuine perseverance. There is simply far less mature Burgundy available, and what does remain is sometimes of questionable quality and provenance. We present a welcome reprieve from this frustrating challenge. This small collection of cases has been quietly hibernating in the same cold cellar since release. The condition of the corks and labels is immaculate, and the wine inside is truly beautiful.
The Bitouzet family has been farming in Volnay since the early 1800s and were among the first families in the village to bottle their own wines independently. The family’s holdings in Volnay, now overseen by Vincent Bitouzet, cover an impressive diversity of village-level and Premier Cru parcels. Bitouzet owns a modest .7 hectares of Taillepieds, which earns its name (roughly translated to “slash your feet”) because of its steep incline and rocky soils. This vineyard was first planted by the Bitouzet family in 1971 and, while the volume of its productivity is beginning to decline, it is absolutely peaking in the depth and quality of wine it produces. The parcel produces about 150 cases of wine each vintage, less than 50 of which come into the US each year.
Vincent Bitouzet farms all his parcels organically, relying on zero shortcuts with chemicals or systemic treatments, and all fruit is harvested by hand. This restraint is echoed in the cellar: juice is vinified gently and slowly with no heavy handed winemaking technology and minimal sulfur. The end goal of the entire process is to produce wines that mature in the cellar for many years, and gradually evolve in aromatics and structure. The family’s wines are seldom open and enjoyable upon release, but they offer a consistently impressive reward to those patient enough to cellar the wines.
Vincent Bitouzet's 2011 Volnay 1er Cru Taillepieds has a dark ruby core moving to garnet and subtle orange tones on the rim. Aromatically, this bottle is a hauntingly beautiful tour de force: black cherries, currants, wild blackberries, hibiscus flower, violets, fresh cut roses, fresh cut wild herbs, white pepper and nascent savory tea/mushroom notes come together in perfect harmony. There is a “completeness” in this wine that is impressive, and an elegance that is unique to Volnay Taillepieds. While slowly emptying this bottle I was repeatedly brought back to a sense of dark beauty and an almost spooky, nocturnal forest character in the wine. This 2011 Taillepieds is a perfect example of how the finest bottles of red Burgundy have an ability to evoke experiences and sensations that transcend one’s basic understanding of grape variety and soil—it’s a real “experience”! As is typical for Bitouzet, this wine has a few extra drops of muscularity than one typically expects from Volnay—there is beauty and brawn here. The palate is buttressed by layers of finely stitched tannins and a deeply mineral core of black and red fruit. It’s bursting into its prime drinking window but there’s still heaps of energy and acidity that predict a long and extremely gratifying life in your cellar—I’m guessing at least 8-10 additional years of peak enjoyment until it begins its slow decline. If enjoying now, as I did, please decant for one hour before serving in large Burgundy stems at 60 degrees. Don’t complicate this already thrilling experience with unnecessarily busy cuisine. The French have wine figured out, but in all my travels I’ve seldom encountered beef that matches the quality of our own pastures. For a perfect companion meal to accompany this offer, all you need is 20 minutes, the
finest Porterhouse your local butcher can provide, and this fool-proof butter basted pan searing technique. Cheers!
