2010 Volnay Les Angles

Good bright, deep red. Black fruits with a hint of cassis leaf reduction. Juicy and fine-grained, with a subtle sucrosite to the very dark flavors of blackberry, boysenberry and bitter chocolate. A bit dried by reduction but riper and distinctly sweeter than the Grands Poisots. Here the tannins are finer.

The 2010 Volnay Les Angles comes across as rich, deep, dark and sensual. There is virtually no perception of tannin in this beautiful, fleshy Volnay. The aromas and flavors are decidedly on the dark side. Mint, licorice and menthol are some of the notes that blossom on the finish. Boillot commented that the last vintage where the Angles was so dark in its fruit was 2005. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2030. The 2010 vintage was not especially kind to Louis Boillot. The December 2009 frost wiped out the vineyard Boillot used for his Bourgogne, so naturally that wine was not made. The Fixin yields were tiny (just one barrel) and that wine was blended into the Cote de Nuits Villages. Overall yields were down 40-50%, although some parcels were hit even harder. The Caillerets, Croix Noires and Cherbaudes were down 50% and the Pommard was down 60%. The harvest started on September 22 and lasted about a week. The wines were aged in 25-30% new oak. Malos were very slow and were not finished until September 2011, quite late even by standards of the year. On a much more positive note, the wines themselves are fabulous and deserve serious attention. Unfortunately, the 2010 Pommard Les Croix Noires and Chambolle-Musigny Beaux Bruns were too reduced to evaluate, so I will have to wait for another opportunity to taste those wines. I will report on the 2009s in the April issue. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

The 2010 Volnay Les Angles comes across as rich, deep, dark and sensual. There is virtually no perception of tannin in this beautiful, fleshy Volnay. The aromas and flavors are decidedly on the dark side. Mint, licorice and menthol are some of the notes that blossom on the finish. Boillot commented that the last vintage where the Angles was so dark in its fruit was 2005. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2030. Feb 2012, www.robertparker.com