2016 Volnay Fremiets
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
(just two barrels made, from 36- and 90-year-old vines; vinified with 10% whole clusters): Bright medium red. Slightly medicinal red cherry on the nose. Moderately dense and juicy, with the redcurrant and herb flavors conveying a faint greenness but a rather elegant texture. The medicinal character carries through on the palate. Winemaker Zinetti plans to wait until March to bottle this wine, which was still on its lees in November.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Allen Meadows, Burghound
More reviews and scores
The 2016 Volnay 1er Cru Frémiets is reduced to two barrels this year, a mixture of 70% young vines and 30% of 90-year-old vines, with just 5% whole-bunch fruit. It took a little coaxing from the glass but it eventually reveals perfumed redcurrant, cranberry and pomegranate scents. The palate is just a little coarse at the moment and I feel this does not quite have the harmony of the Auxey-Duresses, somewhat brutish on the finish. Hopefully this will meliorate by the time of bottling.
The more elegant nose features notes of distinctly cool and airy essence of cherry, spicy and floral elements and in particular violet. The sleek, intense and relatively dense medium-bodied flavors also flash ample minerality on the serious, long and lingering finish where a faint hint of warmth arises. This moderately firm effort is a combination of power and finesse.