2016 Nicolas Rossignol Volnay 1er Cru Les Chevrets

Community Tasting Notes (2) Avg Score: 92 points

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  2/23/2024 - Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 92 Points

  5th generation winemaking family in Volnay, winemaker has wide experience in and out of Burgundy, 1er Cru in an AOC historically regarded as the best in the Cotes de Beaune and Chevret is adjacent to the greatest of the 1er Crus in Volnay. A very fine vintage and Volnay tends to be ready to drink earlier than many AOC’s so the whole package looks pretty good.
  
  The wine doesn’t let you down. It is good drinking from the moment the cork is hauled out and on day 2 it remains very good. Colour is on the darker side. Fragrant red berry but with depth, almost jube like and then some spicey oak.
  
  Complexity is not a strength at this time but that may come. Great length and intensity. Easily in the excellent range.
  
  Yet again, however, I am asking myself ‘what is Pinot’ and ‘why?’. I really like the variety. I like Red Burg. However, if I think about aromatic reds, I think of Pinot, Sangiovese, Grenache and Nebbiolo. Why is Pinot one of the handful of ‘Noble varieties’ and the others not, when to me it is the least complex of the four grapes I have listed? Would it have the position it has today if it were not for its ability to ripen in colder climates, colder epochs and in a region that by an accident of history enjoyed shelter under a series of relatively stable and powerful regimes and traded with England, a power that established a long-lasting cultural hegemony? If Italy had been more proximate to England would that have changed the reputational balance?
  
  What is Pinot? Is it the more extracted, dense, wines increasingly fashionable since the late 1980’s and does it need new oak to give it complexity that other varieties inherently have in the grape itself? Does that matter?
  
  The complacent answer inevitably tossed out by life’s drones is that you have to drink the best of Burgundy to understand it. But I think I have had a fair exposure to many of these. The same answer could be given to any question about any variety. It's the moron's invitation to share their intellectual cul de sac.
  
  Another response trotted out is ‘just look at the market’ (it is always right, apparently, except when it isn’t), or the related ‘just look at how many of the greatest wines are from Burgundy’. But what actually is the criteria for ‘greatness’? At what point do tradition, reputation, marketing and prestige cloud the picture and the ability to assess in an objective way?
  
  My criteria for ‘nobility’ would be the ability of the grape itself to produce complexity without oak, to produce length, intensity and mouthfeel and to enhance food, not drown it out in a vinous version of the wall of sound production style. On those criteria, I think Pinot would struggle. It wouldn’t struggle to make a lot of wines I like (and love), but it would battle to make my grade for a grape that is in and of itself a clear cut above the rest. Sangiovese and Nebbiolo would romp home. I am not sure about Grenache - my own taste preferences put Pinot aromas and flavours ahead.
  
  As I have a palate that would struggle to climb above the very low bar of my skill as a lawyer, I am not pretending to pass judgement. I might not even be raising questions that merit discussion, except in my own ‘village’ or 'crus bourgeoise' level mind.

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  9/13/2019 - gkpaoli Likes this wine:

  Weighty with significant texture, very enjoyable!

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