2012 Volnay Santenots
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Tasting notes
Tasted blind at the annual "Burgfest" tasting in Beaune. The 2012 Volnay 1er Cru les Santenots du Milieu from Henri Boillot was showing just a little VA on the nose, though not too severe and it give its red berry, cranberry and redcurrant scents a lift a kick up the backside. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy, "stringy" tannin; it is quite saline in the mouth and slightly conservative, foursquare but a nicely controlled finish. Fine, if not best in show.
Critic scores
Average Score
Allen Meadows, Burghound
Neal Martin
More reviews and scores
(from vines at the beginning of the slope): Good deep red. Reserved aromas of medicinal black cherry, smoke, leather and chocolate. Rich and fine-grained but laid-back, showing an attractive combination of sucrosite and salinity. Most impressive today on the subtle back end, which features very refined tannins and sneaky building length.
Violets, licorice, blueberries and graphite are some of the many notes that take shape in the 2012 Volnay Les Santenots. There is more than enough structure to support the fruit in a dramatic, large-scaled Burgundy that captures the essence of the year in its explosive personality. This intense, powerful Volnay need serious time in the cellar. A generous, beautifully resonant finish rounds things off.
Here the more expressive nose is a bit more elegant though it is also quite deeply pitched with its array of cassis, anise, plum and earth scents. There is excellent concentration and even power to the seductively textured if distinctly firm middle weight flavors that culminate in a dusty and lingering finish that also displays a touch of youthful asperity. Tasted: Apr 15, 2014. Drink: 2019+
About the producer
Based in Meursault and farming some of the finest vineyards in the Côte de Beaune, Henri Boillot is a leading address in Burgundy. He crafts fine Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but the estate is best known for its flagship monopole vineyard, Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Clos de la Mouchère.