Domaine Poulleau Père & Fils Volnay “Le Vertueux” 2017

Regularly $59.99

Closeout Sale $41.99 - Beats Best US Price

Buy 3 or more pay $38.99

Buy 6 or more pay $35.99

A double dose of good fortune here...the importer needed to make room for the 2018 vintage, so he cut us a deal... and the wine was brought in pre-tariff, so it was already a great deal!

Well, for once, my Burgundy story has nothing to do with global warming but something possibly more frightening – the tax man.

Domaine Polleau was created in 1950 by Michel Polleau and is now run by his son and daughter-in-law, Thierry and Florence. It is a small domain of just 7.3 hectares. They own small parcels in seven different appellations, including a tiny plot in Corton Charlemagne and a prized 80 year-old vineyard in Volnay 1er Cru Chanlin.

Well, except they don’t. You see, a few years back, a neighbor sold their Chanlin Volnay 1er Cru vineyard and the new owners did a survey for the tax man and it was determined that about 75% of what they had been selling as Chanlin 1er cru was actually just village level. They sold off the 25% of true 1er Chanlin, as it was now too small to do a separate bottling.

Talk about a bummer. Nothing changed. Nothing. Except the price they could charge.

I suppose they could increase the yield in that vineyard (more is allowed for AOC Volnay), and reduce the use of new oak to get volume up and cost down. But the Polleau’s have decided to work the plot the same way they always have, treating it as 1er Cru.

For this special bottling, they have taken one barrel of their “Premier Cru Chanlin” and a selected barrel of their regular Volnay and blended them together.

Reflecting the 2017 vintage, the wine is immediately showy, with seductive aromas of violets and cherries blasting from the glass. This soft entry disguises the power laying beneath, with minerality and fine tannins building on the finish. As I taste more 2017s, this is the defining character I am seeking – immediate pleasure combined with the ability to age and improve.

And how good deal is this?  When I search "Volnay" in Wine Spectator for 2014-2017, there are only four listed under $50.

At $41.99, this is a steal for Volnay. As low as $35.99, this is ridiculous.  For a blend of what is, except on paper, 1er Cru Volnay??? Just plan stupid... 


Or reply. The wine is available now in Chapel Hill. Friday, as ordered, in Hillsborough.