Burgundy Series #4: Nuits-Saint-Georges & Volnay

Our Burgundy series is back! For the fourth installment, join us as we deep dive into Nuits-Saint-Georges & Volnay… your privileged access to highly limited, top-tier burgundies from our recent container arrival!

“These are without doubt some of the finest under the radar wines in Burgundy…”
“The village Volnay is a standout as much of it is produced from premier cru fruit – a very fine Pinot and a true bargain.”
Andrew Pavli - Musigny

13 Wines incl. 2 White Burgundies and 11 Red Burgundies across 6 Domaines

The Domaines:
Aurélien Verdet | Bruno Desaunay-Bissey | Dubreuil Fontaine
Pernot Bélicard | Pierrick Bouley | Philippe Chavy

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Sunday, January 25th

Burgundy Series #4: Nuits-Saint-Georges & Volnay

The Domaines in Context

Aurélien Verdet embodies this new generation of talented winemakers who chooses to fly under the radar. We suspect that his wines won’t remain hidden gems for long.
- Vinosophy.com
Still flying under the radar, Aurélien Verdet’s Burgundies not to be missed. The purity and personality of the Pinot Noir demonstrates just how well he adapts to every vintage, reflecting the style of the season. His cellars are tucked away in the quiet village of Arcenant in the Hautes-Côtes de Nuits and keeps a fairly low profile; he prefers to spend his time in his organically farmed vineyards. Father, Alain, planted the vineyards in 1971 and farmed them organically from the start, making them possibly the oldest organic vineyards in Burgundy. He has a range of excellent premiers crus, including contracts with vineyards across the Côte de Nuits. Aurélien’s wines offer  refreshingly good value.
- Laywheeler.com
How does a superstar producer remain under the radar? In a globalised world of instant communication, how can a great winemaker remain little-noticed?
Welcome to the world of Bruno Desaunay-Bissey – for decades one of Burgundy’s greatest producers, who’s only recently coming to general acclaim.
Making wines from a scattering of holdings located right across the most famous appellations of the Cote de Nuits, Domaine Desaunay-Bissey’s wines offer some of the regions greatest value. However, they are now beginning to come to world wide notice, and the most sought-after wines are available only on allocation.
Desaunay-Bissey’s comparative lack of fame isn’t due to the quality of the domaine’s vineyards, which consist principally of old vines sited in the best parts of Vosne-Romanée and Echezeaux, including some planted as far back as 1928. Remaining in the family ever since, Bruno has been producing wine from these plots since 1975, farming without pesticides, and practising minimal-intervention winemaking.
It certainly isn’t the wines, which are pin-point-precise and true to their terroir, yet exquisitely fruit-forward and easy to appreciate. They’re the kind of wines you might find on the list in a local restaurant in Burgundy and order without any great expectation, before having your mind blown by an all-time-great wine experience.
Unfortunately Bruno passed away in 2023 and now we see his son Richard taking over the Domaine.
The 2022’s are a very late release because of Bruno’s passing, The French government froze all assets till all affairs of the Domaine were legally passed on to Richard. Hence, we can only offer the 2022’s now. Wow! What a way to begin as the new winemaker. These are without doubt some of the finest under the radar wines in Burgundy…
https://musigny.wine/vine/bruno-desaunay-bissey/
At the small domaine of Dubreuil-Fontaine in Pernand-Vergelesses, it is very much a family affair.
Burgundy is as much about the people as it is about the terroir. Christine Gruere-Dubreuil has fashioned fruit-driven red wines and full-flavoured, silky whites for thirty years. In recent years she has been joined by her upbeat, energetic daughter Clementine.
The family lives at the monopole of Clos Berthet, which is one of the flagship wines of Pernand-Vergelesses, a classically Burgundian, picturesque village situated next to the hill of Corton. While the wines from this area can be truly excellent, it has always lived in the shadow of its more illustrious hillside neighbours. Enthusiasts should pay close attention, since both its red and white wines offer superb value for money.
The passion of the family can be tasted across Dubreuil-Fontaine’s range, which delivers beautifully pure, ripe flavours throughout. The reds express wonderful cherry tones, offering finely tuned, silky fruit. The whites are lively, flavoursome, and richly textured, and while the Premier Crus will benefit from bottle age, there is real class here and they will delight patient buyers.
Aside from their heartland of Pernand-Vergelesses and Corton, the family’s small parcels in Pommard and Volnay should not be overlooked. Well sited old parcels add a dimension of sheer pedigree. The village Volnay is a standout as much of it is produced from premier cru fruit – a very fine Pinot and a true bargain.
White Burgundies you never heard of.” Philippe is a genuine, gifted and hardworking Puligny Montrachet vigneron and winemaker. In each instance his wines are amongst the finest available, and whilst not cheap, remain very good value for money given the quality.
This small six-hectare domaine located in the heart of Puligny-Montrachet is making rapid strides. Philippe Pernot (a scion of the Paul Pernot dynasty) launched the Pernot Belicard label in 2009, gradually selling less and less to the négociants. In the vineyards, he cultivates the soils, de-buds aggressively and takes pains to retain his old vines in good health. The grapes are harvested by hand, with Philippe typically among the earlier pickers in the village. Since 2014, there's more sorting, the grapes passing over a shaker table before being whole cluster pressed. Initially, the wines were bottled to make room for the new vintage, but Philippe, evidently an enquiring mind, felt that something was missing: now, the wines stay in barrel until August, but spend an additional three to six months in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks with the fine lees.
The result, he contends (and I concur), are wines that are more integrated and complete. These are already very good wines, and Philippe possesses some enviable parcels, but it is his desire to refine and improve that marks this out as an estate to watch.
William Kelley, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pierrick Bouley is the sixth generation of the BOULEY family to lead the estate, which was originally known as R & P BOULEY. He began working on the estate full-time in 2009, and in 2014, he took over from his parents. Most of the vines on this property are old (about 50 years old on average) and are distributed throughout 9 acres and 41 parcels.
Pierrick is gradually modifying the way he works his vines, adopting a more « organic » and « natural » approach inspired by biodynamic principles. The estate is now converting to organic farming, with the 2023 vintage being the first to receive certification.
To minimize compacting the soil and promote water drainage, Pierrick limits the number of tractor passages in the vineyards. He uses a very old pruning method called « Guyot Poussard » which favors two sap flows, on both sides of the vine (instead of one). When the weather is fine, no weeding and almost no cutting of branches because, since 2020, 100% of the vines are trellised. For treatments, only contact products are used in association with plants. No insecticides, weed killers, or anti-rot products are applied. Rigorous disbudding, drastic selection of grapes, yields are naturally regulated thanks to the age of the vines. Pierrick likes elegant wines, fine but relatively powerful and long in the mouth.
The harvest is done manually in boxes, the grapes are sorted, destemmed, and not crushed. No yeast, enzymes, or bacteria. The fermentations take place naturally. Since 2017, no SO2 has been added in winemaking. The wines are then aged for 12 months in French oak barrels (10% to 30% new barrels according to the wine) and slowly filtered through a lenticular filter if necessary before being bottled at the estate.
https://pierrickbouley.com/domain/

The Wine List

2022 Pernot Bélicard Bourgogne Cote d’Or blanc Chardonnay
Subtle creamy minerality in this wine. It has more depth than you’d expect from the appellation, which simply shows the talent of the producer. There’s a case in my cellar, which is probably more meaningful as a recommendation than 93 points. There is also a case of the 2020 beside it.
93 points, Michael Apstein, Wine Review Online
2022 Philippe Chavy Bourgogne Chardonnay
Clear pale colour, fresh apples on the nose, this is characterful and drier than some producers would make, but there is impressive purity and intensity on the palate. This has excellent potential. Fine length. Drink from 2024-2027. Tasted Oct 2023.
Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy

First Course

2022 Bruno Desaunay-Bissey Bourgogne Côte d'Or Pinot Noir [New Release]
The red 2022 Pinot Noir wines from Domaine Bruno Desaunay-Bissey are deeply coloured and powerful with a structured fruit concentration, a vibrant essence of terroir, and well-developed but polished, chalky mineral tannins revealing an abundance of dry extract. The vintage represents the perfect swansong for the great winemaking talent that was Bruno Desaunay, and his final selection of red wines stands as a fitting homage to a modest life lived in and around the vineyards he loved so very much.
Tasting Notes - Greg Sherwood MW, musignywine.com
Wow, what a Bourgogne! This so called “modest” wine shows a wonderfully intense lifted perfume of violets, cherry blossom, saline black currant, and black cherry. Densely fruited, with suave chalky tannins, this is an absolute cracker that punches well above its weight, emphasising the true pedigree of both the Domaine and the vintage. Drink now to 2030.
Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW, Wine Safari
2023 Pierrick Bouley Bourgogne Côte d'Or Vieilles Vignes
Nearly half of Pierrick’s four hectares are below Volnay, nearly half below Pommard and the rest above Pommard. 44 barrels made! Mid purple. An exquisite perfume with greater density than the Passetoutgrains. Dark raspberry with floral overtones, excellent acidity, very good length here, a coming of age. Look out for this. Drink from 2026-2030. Tasted Oct 2024.
5 Stars and 90-91 Points - Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
2021 Dubreuil Fontaine Volnay
The village grapes have been enhanced by a little 1er Cru fruit from Carelle, Brouillards and Lurets. A fine bright mid red. Plenty of energy on the nose, rather stylish in a darker red fruit, some plums. A light bitterness to finish but nonetheless the elegance of Volnay shows through with fresher raspberry notes at the back. Drink from 2025-2028. Tasted Dec 2022.
89-90 Points - Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
2023 Pierrick Bouley Volnay

Second Course

2023 Pierrick Bouley Volnay 1er cru 'Clos des Chênes'
A glowing fresh purple. The Clos des Chênes offers slightly more lifted red fruit, fresh raspberry backed by cherry, more fruit weight on the palate, and with good length. In fact, the aftertaste is particularly enjoyable. Drink from 2030-2036. Tasted Oct 2024.
91-94 Points - Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
2023 Pierrick Bouley Volnay 1er cru 'Champans'
Despite higher yields in the Champans, it retains a fine mid purple colour. A lighter more elegant pinot on the nose. Very elegant, all in finesse, slightly darker fruit, no more than middleweight but with good persistence. Drink from 2029-2035. Tasted Oct 2024.
90-92 Points - Jasper Morris, Inside Burgundy
2011 Bouchard Volnay 1er Cru Ancienne Cuvée Carnot Les Caillerets
This is its usual opulent, generous self, although in 2011 the fruit dominates. Ripe strawberry fruits are packed around sweet tannins and balanced with acidity. The wine is rich but is also powered with a firm structure. At the end, the wood aging shows. Drink from 2018.
94 Points - Roger Voss, Wine Enthusiast

Third Course

2023 Aurélien Verdet Nuits-Saint-Georges Le Côteau des Bois [New Release]
Tasting Notes/Reviews unavailable at this time.
2022 Bruno Desaunay-Bissey Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Belles croix [New Release]
Tasting Notes/Reviews unavailable at this time.
2020 Aurélien Verdet Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Damodes
Ripe black cherry and blackberry fruit is matched by sweet spices in this fleshy, fluid red. This is firmly structured, darkening on the finish, with flashes of sandalwood, incense and earth. Needs time to absorb the tannins. Best from 2027 through 2045. 10 cases imported.
93 Points - Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator Magazine [Published May 31, 2024]
2010 Aurélien Verdet Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Aux Boudots [Museum Release]
Shows some reduction on the nose, but otherwise features rich cherry, pomegranate and mineral flavors. Firm and juicy, with a long finish of berries and mineral. Best from 2015 through 2032. 75 cases imported.
93 Points - Bruce Sanderson, Wine Spectator [Tasted June 2013]

Fourth Course

Burgundy Series #4: Nuits-Saint-Georges & Volnay