2010 Louis Latour Volnay En Chevret 1er Cru

Earlier this year, we spent an unforgettable afternoon at Louis Latour’s stateside HQ. Arrayed on the table before us were seven deep-bowled glasses, filled with some of Burgundy’s greatest Grand Cru and Premier Cru Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs. A shimmering gold Bâtard-Montrachet, a citrus-kissed Puligny-Montrachet Sous le Puits, a ruby-red, sublimely pure Aloxe-Corton Chaillots.

The last red, as is usual in our tastings with Latour mastermind Bernard Retornaz, remained unnamed. We picked the Riedel glass up. Fine aromas of crushed red fruits, black raspberry, and cherry. Gossamer-soft and juicy on the palate, slowly peeling away fine layers of raspberry complexity. We continued sniffing and savoring for a minute, but had guessed it from the moment that classic aromatic bouquet hit our nose: “The En Chevret Volnay,” we said, to a creased smile on Bernard’s face. We were able to secure just 240 bottles of this 2010 Louis Latour En Chevret Premier Cru red Burgundy for Wine Access members.  

Once you taste one of Burgundy’s top Volnays, you never forget it: They’re beguiling, with ethereal beauty, extraordinarily delicate aromas, and silky-soft tannins. Today, we’re offering you that rare chance with the perfectly cellared 2010 Louis Latour En Chevret Premier Cru—a bottle that should have the antennae of every Burgundy collector buzzing. 

Volnays are famous around the world for their unsurpassed graceful beauty: seductive elegance, silky texture, featherlight structure. To locate the greatest wines of the village, you must ascend the steep inclines of the hill of Chaignot, high in the Côte de Beaune. Along a mid-slope strip lie the legendary PremierCru plots—among them, En Chevret. The soils here contain the limestone for which the appellation is known, but the land is also rocky and iron-rich, adding firmness to the wine’s rounded, delicate body. The southeasterly exposure ensures generous sunlight, lending this wine its luscious fruit concentration.

Collectors and cellarmasters eyed this hill greedily in 2010, a “vintage that embodies all of the qualities that make red Burgundy one of the world’s most compelling wines,” says Vinous’s Antonio Galloni. If you want to taste Volnay at its absolute peak, from a classic vintage whose supply is dwindling, move fast. 

2010 was one of those vintages that are becoming all too frequent in Burgundy these days: historic in quality, tiny in quantity. Antonio Galloni writes that the 2010s “are stunning wines that capture the essence of what makes Burgundy so thrilling” while cautioning that the best are also “now virtually impossible to find.” A cool summer locked mouthwatering acidity in the thick-skinned berries, while low yields meant that each grape received ideal access to sun and fresh air, leading to perfect, healthy bunches. “A classic Burgundy vintage,” declared Decanter, “marked by limpidity and purity of flavor.” 

If you sock away just one Volnay this season, make it this one—it doesn’t get much better at $79 a pop.

• Fruit Intensity
• Oak Intensity
• Body
• Acidity
• Tannin

• ABV 13.50%
• Enjoy right away
• Now – 2028
• % Pinot Noir
• Serving temperature – 58°
• Cork