2017 Volnay Clos des Ducs 1. Cru Marquis d'Angerville 300 cl.

Very shaded rim on light garnet. Firm and meaty nose. Real spread of aromas with much more obvious sweetness of fruit than its stablemates. Utterly seductive. A real panoply of flavours even at this early stage. Lovely delicacy too. Lift and ballast - a fine combination! Lots to chew on on the end. Drink 2025-2048 .

The 2017 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs is the most incipiently complex wine in the cellar this year, unfurling in the glass with aromas of sweet red berries, grilled squab, dark chocolate and spices, as well as a lifted top-note of rose petal. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, satiny and layered, with good concentration at the core, a fine-grained but elegantly firm chassis of tannin and a long, mineral finish.

The 2017 Volnay Clos des Ducs 1er Cru is the famous crown jewel monopole of the domaine, ostensibly the rear garden with its own spring. Initially it is showing some reduction on the nose, although it dissipates with aeration. It is certainly reticent at the moment. The palate is medium-bodied with a gentle grip on the entry. It provides that arching structure that defines this vineyard and gives it its longevity, yet paradoxically the mouth sensation is supple and smooth, with just a touch of spice tingling on the finish. Noble, and aristocratic - just how a Clos des Ducs ought to be.