Top Pommard and Volnay 2021 en primeur wines

Best producers: Domaine Michel Lafarge (Volnay) Domaine Marquis d'Angerville (Volnay) Domaine de Courcel (Pommard) Domaine Pierrick Bouley (Volnay) Domaine Y. Clerget (Volnay) Domaine Joannès Violot-Guillemard (Pommard) Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for Charles' top-scoring Pommard and Volnay 2021 wines [subscriber-content]Results in the red wine country of the Northern Côte de Beaune were varied. Some growers lost no more than 10%-15% to hail, while others reported 80%-90% losses. Similarly, many producers reported great struggles with rot and mildew, while others worked with healthy grapes, albeit in tiny quantities. The best wines are truly delicious and can boast the mouthfilling body, velvety structures and ripe plummy fruit for which the region is known, but those results were only possible with the greatest attention in the vineyard, the most rigorous sorting and attentive, sensitive winemaking. Usually, a tasting at Domaine Michel Lafarge is a joyful thing, as one notices the distinct differences between the cuvées and Frédéric Lafarge explains how each climat responded to the year’s conditions. In 2021, he was obliged to blend all the Volnay to make one cuvée of village-level wine and one of premier cru. Strict selection and careful blending had their benefits, however, as Lafarge explains: ‘The Volnay premier cru has the generosity of the Clos des Chênes, the minerality of Taillepieds, and the noblesse of the Clos du Château des Ducs.’ Domaine de Courcel's Le Grand Clos des Epenots vineyard in Pommard. Credit: Domaine de CourcelGuillaume d’Angerville at Domaine Marquis d’Angerville took the opposite approach, bottling a separate (if small) quantity of Taillepieds, Champans and Fremiets, as well as remarkably successful wines from Caillerets and Clos des Ducs. Elsewhere in Volnay, some growers were less impacted by the weather. Pierrick Bouley reported losses of 10% in the premier cru sites and 20% in the village-level and regional-level sites, ascribing the difference to very late pruning. Strict sorting was still necessary, as rot and mildew took their toll. In Pommard, Yves Confuron, régisseur of the Domaine de Courcel, was positive, saying that despite weather more like Brittany than Burgundy, the grapes reached exemplary levels of ripeness (averaging 13.5 % alcohol) and made interesting wines that span black fruit and spice with a sensual, creamy texture, fine tannins and a beautiful balance. Rising star Joannès Violot-Guillemard reported varied losses, from 10%-80%, according to the appellation. The average was a modest but not catastrophic 20hl/ha. He produced some lovely wines using a slightly different technique: 100% destemming, shorter fermentations and no pigeage. The results were supple, voluptuous and hedonistic wines to enjoy now. [/subscriber-content] See the score table listing Charles' top Burgundy 2021 wines all scoring 94 points or above See all 700 Burgundy 2021 tasting notes and scores Quick links: See further analysis and top-scoring wines of the following areas:

See tasting notes and scores for Charles Curtis MW's top-scoring Pommard and Volnay 2021 wines: [wine-collection] Related content Burgundy 2021 en primeur: full report and top-scoring wines