Volnay’s new generation takes the reins

Without Volnay, there is simply no joy,’ declared historian Claude Courtépée in his 18th-century work on the Duchy of Burgundy. The delights of the wine from this village have been known since before the dukes constructed their château there in the 11th century, while today’s wine lovers are discovering them again thanks to the able work of a new generation of winemakers.

While generational change is always occurring, it seems there are currently an unusually high number of fresh faces in Volnay, including the young winemakers Clément Boillot, Pierrick Bouley, Thomas Bouley, Marc-Olivier Buffet, Thibaud Clerget and Maxime Dubuet-Boillot.

To this, one should add Clothilde Lafarge, although her parents Frédéric and Chantal are still very much involved in the family domaine.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for wines from Volnay’s new generation

Old and new

Domaine Lafarge is in some ways the link between the old Volnay and the new; it is among the great classics of the village, along with Domaine Marquis d’Angerville. The d’Angerville style is elegant and classic, perhaps the best of the slightly reserved ‘traditional’ style.

Lafarge, by contrast, is certified organic and biodynamic, and the wines have more of a lush, sensual appeal: the Dionysus to d’Angerville’s Apollo.

Before the current youthful crop, the most recent talent to emerge had been Nicolas Rossignol (now based in Beaune), who makes an array of Volnays in a full-bodied, concentrated style using a judicious proportion of whole bunches.

Into this landscape have come a variety of new voices, each of whom brings their own perspective to the delicious wines of this village.

Volvay at a glance

Appellation: Established 1937

Delimited area: 213ha*

Premiers crus: 29 climats, 115ha in total plus Santenots (in Meursault) 29ha*

Soils: Jurassic-era limestone (Bathonian, Argovian, Oxfordian), white marl (top of the slope), and clay (base of the slope)

Average production: Roughly 600,000 bottles of premier cru and 400,000 bottles of village-level wines*

Number of producers: 122*† (18 located in the village of Volnay)

Source: *Les Vins de Bourgogne, by Laurent Gotti & Sylvain Pitiot, now in its 17th Edition, via collection Pierre Poupon; † BIVB

Benchmark Beaune

Volnay is a compact, tidy village, with premier cru vineyards on either side of the D973 road that passes just below it, and village-level vines at the top of the slope and at its base, as well as vines producing Bourgogne Pinot Noir (and Passetoutgrain) to the east of the main road.

The premiers crus fall into several distinct groups. Perhaps the best come from the roughly rectangular block at the south of the village, composed of Taille Pieds, Clos des Chênes, Caillerets and Champans, along with Volnay Santenots, produced across the commune border (geographically within Meursault territory).

There is also an array of small premier cru climats around and down-slope from the town itself; and there are more on the northern border with Pommard, that share somewhat in the character of the tannic, dense wines of that village.

Only red wines are produced in Volnay, and this is the last significant stretch of Pinot Noir, as you proceed southwest, before the trio of Chardonnay-dominated Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet and Chassagne-Montrachet (if Chardonnay is planted in Santenots, it becomes Meursault premier cru).

The range of terroirs produces a great diversity of styles, which some have called the finest reds of the Côte de Beaune.

Names to know: Seven Volnay producers to watch

Domaine Y Clerget

Thibaud Clerget (pictured above) completed studies at Beaune’s Lycée Viticole and an internship at Domaine Hudelot-Noëllat before taking over the venerable family domaine in 2015 at 24. He has just overseen the completion of an impressive new winery in Pommard.

Although they own a two-parcel hectare of Pommard premier cru Les Rugiens (and a third of a hectare in the Grand Maupertuis section of the Clos de Vougeot grand cru), most of the holdings are in Volnay, which the family recently augmented with four more hectares from Domaine Régis Rossignol to bring the holdings to 11ha in total.

In the vineyard, the vines are hedged relatively high (1.5m-1.6m), and two parcels are planted on stakes (échalas) to test this system. The domaine is in the process of organic conversion.

After picking, the grapes are generally mostly destemmed, although in 2022 some whole clusters were included in their monopole Clos de Verseuil (0.68ha, of which 0.45ha planted). The fruit is given a cold maceration before fermenting on native yeasts.

Thibaud works with a gentle extraction – no punching down since 2019 and very little pumping over. The wine is aged with only a modest amount of new oak, and the fermentation is done without sulphur until bottling.

There is no fining or filtration. The style of the wine is fruit-driven and lush, yet there is enough structure and depth to ensure the wines will age well indeed.

Domaine Michel Lafarge

Although Frédéric and Chantal Lafarge are omnipresent at their family domaine, their daughter Clothilde is taking an increasingly important role in the cellar and administration next to her parents.

She began her career with a harvest at the new family estate in Beaujolais (Lafarge-Vial) and returned to the domaine full-time after internships in Burgundy, New Zealand and Oregon. She will soon be joined at the domaine by her brother Maxime-Henri.

With 12ha in the Côte d’Or and 7ha in Beaujolais, all farmed biodynamically, they will be busy. The Pinot in Volnay is destemmed and fermented before ageing in cask with a modest proportion of new wood to ensure delicacy, elegance and a charming purity of fruit.

Domaine Pierrick Bouley

Pierrick Bouley began to work in the family domaine (formerly known as Domaine R&P Bouley) in 2009 and took over in 2014. The domaine currently farms 9ha spread over 41 parcels in Volnay and Pommard.

Bouley (above) has gradually moved the estate towards organic and biodynamic production, and the 2023 vintage is the domaine’s first to be certified organic.

Bouley has stopped hedging his vines (removing the developing shoots from the top and sometimes sides) – the shoot tips are now woven together at the top (known as ‘tressage’) to avoid cutting them: a huge investment in labour.

He destems the grapes and begins his fermentations with a cold soak of one week before fermentation on native yeasts, pumping over once or twice each day, punching down briefly at the end of the fermentation to avoid excessive tannins, in order to bring a style that is approachable and supple yet not lacking structure.

Domaine François Buffet

Marc-Olivier Buffet took over from his father at this long-established family domaine after the 2004 vintage. Despite a history dating back to 1692, the domaine has been oddly under the radar.

The family farms 8ha, covering 16 different bottlings stretching from Volnay to Savigny-lès-Beaune and Pernand-Vergelesses. The vineyards are in organic conversion and cover crops are used to enrich the soil.

After careful sorting, the fermentation takes place with indigenous yeast. An average of one third whole clusters are used for the premiers crus, formerly vinified entirely with whole bunches.

Faced with global warming, the extraction has become increasingly gentle, punched down two or three times and then gently pumped over.

The finished wines are aged in cask, with a maximum of 20%-25% new wood, to give a relatively classic expression of Volnay.

Domaine Louis Boillot

Few people are as busy as Clément Boillot: he and his wife just welcomed their first child, and he is making the wine at not one, but two domaines – Ghislaine Barthod in Chambolle on his mother’s side, and Louis Boillot in Volnay on his father’s side.

In total, there are currently 8ha spread over 14 different appellations, including 11 premiers crus. In the vineyard, the domaine prides itself on old vines, with some that average 80 years old.

The vines are trained high and topped at 1.4m; the shoot tips of the young vines are woven together to avoid cutting them. The work is organic, but the domaine is not certified.

In the winery, the extraction is mostly through pumping over, and the fermentation is relatively cool, rising to 32° only at the end.

‘My parents made wine for ageing, and I work in the same spirit while trying to remain accessible,’ Clément says.

The wines are lightly sulphured after malolactic fermentation, and they all get a minimum of 13-14 months of maturation in cask, but the 2020s went even longer, up to 18 months.

Domaine Jean-Marc et Thomas Bouley

Thomas Bouley was perhaps among the first of Volnay’s new generation to come to wider notice. In 2002, at the age of 20, he began working with his father, who retired fully in 2012, and today Thomas farms almost 9ha spread over 29 parcels.

For decades, the family has not used fertilisers or herbicides and has ploughed the soil, pruning short to limit yields and sorting grapes carefully in the winery.

He is not a dogmatic winemaker but adapts his extraction and use of whole clusters according to the individual cuvées, in order to deliver a result that is held as a reference among the best examples of Volnay done in a classic style.

Maxime Dubuet-Boillot

Maxime Dubuet-Boillot gradually took over the 7ha farmed by his grandfather, who died in 2014, with half in Volnay and the balance in regional Bourgogne; Maxime’s first vintage on his own was 2019.

He cites oenologist Yves Confuron (Vosne-Romanée) as a mentor, describing his philosophy: ‘One needs to pick ripe and ferment slowly. I am very sensitive to phenolic maturity; I am not the first to go into the vines to pick.’

He picks ripe fruit but is also looking for some ‘good vegetal aromas’ to ensure that the wine refreshes the palate. The wines are fermented on native yeasts without sulphur until bottling.

He begins with three or four punchdowns at the beginning of fermentation and then pumps over. After fermentation, the wine is run into cask: 30% new is the maximum for premier cru, although most are 20%-25% new, with a preference for Allier for its tighter grain in cool vintages, and casks from the Vosges for the hotter years.

The wines are ripe and dense, but there is a charmingly accessible side as well.

Wine selections and tasting notes by Charles Curtis MW:

Alcohol levels given where available

Related articles

• Mercurey: A regional profile of this hidden corner of Burgundy
• Best value Burgundy 2022 wines en primeur
• Discovering white Beaujolais: 10 wines to try