2016 Volnay, Les Santenots du Milieu, 1er Cru, Arnaud Ente, Burgundy

40% whole bunch.

Similar pungent note of reduction on the nose as on the Bourgogne Rouge. Lively and dry raspberry. Slightly like an amphora wine. More body than the Bourgogne Rouge. It is very appetising and has finesse—long, grainy, and very 21st or do I mean 19th?) century.

Drink 2020 - 2026

<40% whole clusters

The restrained and much more complex aromas feature herbal tea notes, red currant, spice and newly turned earth. There is excellent volume to the velvety, round and admirably pure flavours that are supported by phenolically mature tannins on the tight, compact and focused finish. This beautifully balanced effort will need up to a decade to reach its full majority.

Drink from 2026 onward

Fine, bright mid-purple with a pinker tinge. A wealth of fruit, along with spicy strawberry notes from the whole-bunch fermentation 70%). Lifted glowing fruit, raspberry, and cherry notes, too, but with a slight walnut bitterness at the back, which will take time to integrate. It is a wine with a strong personality that will thrill some for the fruit quality but put others off for the whole-bunch vinification and firm tannins.

Notes of wild berries, rose petal, pencil shavings and meaty bass tones precede a full-bodied, ample and supple wine, structured around a chassis of fine-grained, savoury tannins which are cloaked in a core of cool, juicy fruit.

Drink 2024 - 2038