Domaine Marquis d'Angerville, Fremiet Volnay Premier Cru, Burgundy, France, 2023

Overview of the Wine
Domaine Marquis d’Angerville is one of Burgundy's most sought after estates, and perfectly exemplifies the identity of Volnay. D'Angerville's list of holdings touches all of the village’s great terroirs, including one of the most picturesque vineyards in Volnay, the monopole of the estate, Clos des Ducs. The domaine started bottling its own production in the 1920s after the current Marquis’ grandfather, Sem d’Angerville, challenged the blending methods of the negociants’ and then began bottling his own wines instead of selling them his grapes. D'Angerville was one of the first Burgundy domains to do this, making history and encouraging the future of the region at the same time. Today the estate is led by Guillaume d’Angerville, farmed immaculately, and is producing some of the best wines in the entire Cote d’Or.    

Winemaker
Guillaume d'Angerville

Grape / Blend
Pinot Noir

Origin
Burgundy, France

Winemaker's Tasting Notes
Although located north of the village near Pommard, the Fremiet is very Volnaysian by its style, on the fruit, but structured. Fine and sweet, elegance characterizes it. It also benefits from a few years of aging, which bring even more radiance to its bouquet, typically dominated by red fruits. If the attack on the palate is on the fruit, the finishing touch is often saline or salty.

94 Points - Decanter
The 2023 Frémiets from d'Angerville features a burst of blueberry and pomegranate fruit with a firm mineral underpinning. It has less tannin than I remember, but there is impeccable balance and weight. The grapes are from his 1.57ha holding at the northern edge of the premier cru band, up the slope from the Clos des Angles. The grapes are destemmed and fermented with native yeasts before ageing with a modest proportion of new wood to create this lovely, lively wine.(CC)

93 Points - Tim Atkin
There are 40 cm of soil here before you hit the rock, and there is a serious vivacity of the wine to show for it—even with only 40-year-old vines. Black cherries and black plums cavort with oodles of savory spices. Also unsurprisingly, there is abundant ripeness here with a wee touch of warmth. Beautifully balanced overall, this has easy-going approachability in spades.

93 Points - Wine Advocate
The 2023 Volnay 1er Cru Fremiet is deeper-pitched than Les Angles, wafting from the glass with notes of raspberries, plums and licorice. It's medium to full-bodied, supple and charming, with a succulent core of fruit, polished tannins and a saline finish Guillaume d'Angerville and technical director François Duvivier began the harvest on September 4, 2023, picking only in the mornings, reporting yields no higher than in 2022. Supple, sensual and fragrant, these wines will offer a broad drinking window. As I've written before, followers of d'Angerville will be familiar with the protocol here: biodynamic farming, destemmed grapes, classical macerations and élevage in barrels—of which some 20% are new, with older barrels generally being retained for five vintages. These have always been seriously long-lived wines, but contemporary d'Angerville isn't quite as backward and slow to evolve as the wines were in the days of Guillaume d'Angerville's father. The use of barrels with a somewhat younger average age—even if percentages of new wood remain very modest—gives them a slightly glossier patina, especially in their youth.(WK)

93 Points - Vinous
The 2023 Volnay Fremiet 1er Cru has a taut and fresher nose than the Clos des Angles, with touches of oyster shell filtering through the bright red fruit. The palate is ripe on entry, silky smooth in texture, and this displays fine delineation. There is more grip and backbone here with a sapid, peppery finish that lingers. This has a sensuality that I hope is captured once in bottle.(NM)

91 Points - Burghound
Note: from a 1.57 ha parcel. Here there is a vaguely liqueur-like quality to the aromas of black cherry, kirsch and poached plum along with a similar hint of violet. The rich and delicious medium weight flavors are rich to the point of being generous before tightening up noticeably on the markedly firmer, serious and palate soaking finish. This will need at least a few years of cellaring to unwind but the cellaring potential seems clear.*Burghound Outstanding!*

Product size: 750ml