2008 Volnay Champans

A complex, rich amalgam of dark berry scents, cardamom, black pepper, noble fungus and general forest floor characteristics greets the nose from Charlot’s 2008 Volnay Champans, then moves to a satisfyingly juicy, palpably dense, but fine-grained palate. Chalk and salt add to the berry-tart invigoration in the finish here, which persists with understated complexity. This was one of those wines of its collection that had to be shaken in order to properly de-gas for sampling, so in the process, I may have done some violence to its structure or flavors, too. But it is clear this admirably depicts and will evolve to even more strikingly depict the character of its site and ought to be worth following for 12-15 years. The parcel that informed this was hailed on but not so badly as the corresponding Caillerets. ”The domaines that work seriously and well in their vineyards are the ones who succeeded in 2006, 2007, and 2008,” maintains Jean-Pierre Charlot’s, who claims to have been pleasantly surprised not to have encountered significant problems with mildew, oidium, or botrytis in 2008. His 2007s are unusually successful in the context of that vintage, with which he draws parallels to 2009 in that he thinks later harvest at the expense of freshness and early, weak malo that left wines vulnerable during elevage were significant potential pitfalls. When it comes to difficult conditions and problematic results, he insists, none of the subsequent vintages should be compared with 2004. As usual at this address, Charlot was happy to have obtained potential alcohol levels of 12-12.5% in both 2007 and 2008, which he then lightly boosted. His 2008 collection – in which the Pommards, unusually in my experience at Voillot, outshone the Volnays – was due to have been bottled within 2-3 weeks after I tasted it in March. Importer: Vintage 59, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 966-9218