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| COTES-DE-BEAUNE - VOLNAY and POMMARD
Jean-Marc Bouley’s domaine, which has been in his family for 3 generations, now consists of 12 hectares in Volnay, Pommard and Beaune. The winery is located underneath his house on a steep narrow street in the village of Volnay. The house was originally built by a retired railroad engineer, and the cellars resemble train tunnels!
Jean-Marc took over the domaine in 1985 and significantly expanded the holdings, buying choice parcels in Volnay and Pommard. He immediately attained international acclaim for his exciting, dramatic Pinot Noirs. Today, he makes wines from 17 different appellations. Bouley aims for maximum extraction of color, flavor and aromas. He likes wines with plenty of “stuffing” and ages the wines in 30-50% new oak (down from the 80-100% used in the late 80s), which imparts added richness, elegance and verve to the wines without throwing them out of balance. Recently he has been experimenting with whole-cluster fermentation in some of his cuvees. Parker was the first to appreciate the great strides taken by Jean-Marc Bouley, calling him “a hot new star.” More recently, Steve Tanzer has acclaimed Bouley, noting that the “domaine has been totally transformed.” |
| Jean-Marc Bouley Website |
| Hautes Cotes de Beaune Rouge |
| Bouley’s unique Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Beaune Rouge comes from a south-facing vineyard located at the top of the commune of Volnay, at an altitude of 300 meters. Bouley harvests late and makes the wine in the same manner as his other reds. This is a wine of intense, bright and succulent Pinot Noir character and exceptional complexity. It represents fine value. |
| Beaune - Les Reversees 1er Cru |
| Bouley’s Beaune 1er Cru les Reversees come from a vineyard next to Les Teurons, in the heart of the band of Beaune Premiere Crus. It is a generously juicy and grapey wine, with plum and redcurrent flavors. Bouley’s Beaune is an excellent introduction to his style. Only 300 cases are produced.
WINE SPECTATOR - 91 Points: "Delicious. Full of sweet, ripe cherry, blackberry and spice aromas and flavors, this is dense and concentrated with a well-integrated structure and long cherry-infused finish." |
| Volnay |
| The Volnay AOC comes from a 3.5 hectare parcel. It is mixture of fruit from old vines and a new section planted by Bouley 15 years ago. Clive Coates characterized this wine as “quite pretty...a stylish example, very Volnay” which roughly means: a fragrant, broad textured, fruity wine with scents and flavors of violets and plums. It is enjoyable now and will develop further with 2-3 years of bottle age. |
| Volnay - Clos de la Cave |
| The Clos de la Cave vineyard is just behind Bouley’s home. The vines are over 35 years old, and the wine offers ripe, succulent dark cherry fruit. This is a fine example of Bouley’s style, bringing out the elegance of Volnay’s immensely enjoyable fruit. |
| Volnay - Carelles 1er Cru |
| The Carelles vineyard consistently produces wines with the broadest fruit of the premier crus. It is usually an early-accessible wine, with mouthfilling dark cherry-fruit flavors and a focused structure. Purely delicious Volnay. |
| Volnay – Clos des Chenes 1er Cru |
| This wine is one of Bouley’s masterpieces. He produces a mere 200 cases from 50 year old vines. 50% new oak is used and the wine is the epitome of great Volnay. It is very full, opulent, extremely ripe with cherry and dark chocolate flavors, and a long-lasting finish. It requires at least 3 years of cellaring before it starts to show its essence. |
| Pommard |
| The Pommard comes from several well placed parcels. It is a rich, spicy, medium-bodied wine that has tones of strawberry, chocolate and terroir. It can be enjoyed now with charcuterie, lamb, and cheeses. It will develop well in bottle for several years and represents fine value. |
| Pommard - Fremiers 1er Cru |
| Bouley’s Pommard 1er Cru Les Fremiers comes from a parcel with old vines on deep clay-limestone soil. The grapes here are small and very concentrated (called millerandage in French). These factors give this wine its amazing level of lush fruit and a backbone of ripe tannins. It is usually the most sumptuous of Bouley’s Pommards. |
| Pommard - Rugiens 1er Cru |
| The Pommard Les Rugiens comes from two parcels, one with 60 year old vines, the other with 20 year old vines. The parcels are located in the upper part of the Rugiens vineyard on a thin soil over volcanic rock. Bouley’s Rugiens is his most structured Pommard, with complex wild strawberry, black-cherry and spice flavors. It merits 3-5 years of bottle age for its components to mature into perfect balance. |
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