Lucien Le Moine - Volnay "Santenots", Premier Cru

Volnay "Santenots", Premier Cru

The commune of Volnay lies roughly at the midpoint of the Côte de Beaune, bordered by Pommard to the northeast, Monthélie to the West and Meursault to the south. Its vineyards cover 517 acres on a southeasterly-exposed slope; 284 of these are occupied by 26 premiers crus stretching across the mid-slope from Pommard to Meursault, and 243 are in village level vineyards flanking the premiers crus at the crest and the foot of the slope. Volnay is the only commune of the Côte d’Or whose village lies above, rather than below, its vineyards.  The Santenots vineyard comprises about 56 acres.
 
Down in  Meursault, actually in the village of Meursault, "Santenots" is really planted on white wine soils.  Sometimes you can even find the smokiness of Meursault in the wines.  They are light and fruity wines, easily gliding through the palate because they don't have firm structure.
 

  • 2009 Vintage

     There is more talk and interest about 2009 in Burgundy than in any vintage since 2005.  Mounir Saouma has warned us to be careful, however.  He loves this vintage, and in fact believes it is the greatest he has seen in his two decades in Burgundy.   He believes the fruit had everything from the start, and the wines from the beginning were healthy and beautifully balanced.  The major issue was to understand and respect the wines, and avoid working them, since they already had everything they needed in superb balance.  Overly working the wines, he believes, resulted in a loss of freshness and delicacy.

      2009 is the first vintage at Lucien Le Moine that Mounir did not do any lees stirring whatsoever, and as usual he never racked the wines in their nearly two years in barrel.  He didn’t add sulfur until a few months before bottling, and yet his wines are still completely fresh; some whites he describes as even having a tint of green.  The Lucien Le Moine 2009s across the board are beautifully pure and focused, with the exquisite harmony of truly great wines.

    •  "The 2009 Volnay Santenots shows notable length and purity in its crushed flowers, mint and spices. The Santenots is a touch lithe, but the delicate, feminine personality of the wine is nevertheless extremely attractive. Anticipated maturity: 2019-2029." 91-93 Points Wine Advocate

    •  "Strong reduction. Otherwise this is very Volnay in character with good minerality and volume to the precise, intense and delicious medium-bodied flavors that culminate in a serious, linear and persistent finish. This will require from 12 to 15 years to be at its best." 90-92 Points Burghound

    •  "Musky raspberry, minerals and chocolate on the nose. Lush, broad and sweet, with strong soil character and a very ripe note of chocolate. Not a hugely fleshy wine but silky and suave." 89-91 Points International Wine Cellar

  • 2007 Vintage

    As Mounir Saouma says, “2007 saw a fresh summer – when we say fresh summer, we mean well-balanced rain and sunny days.   There were cool but not cold days, days with some rain and sun, but not exaggerated either way.  And you see in the wines there is beautiful acidity, but not as much as 2008, and nice sweetness, but not as much as 2006.” 
     
    This character of mid-way but not extreme in many areas resulted in wines that took a long time to reveal their nature.  “The wines started fruity and the tannins were firm, and slowly we started seeing a kind of melding between sweetness and acidity after the malolactic a year later; we started seeing the real character of the wines after 14 months.  
     
    This development of the vintage is the reason that 2007 was the latest bottling Lucien Le Moine has ever done, and why they were the last producer in all of Burgundy to bottle.  Typically Lucien Le Moine starts bottling in January or February; in 2007 they started in February, but the majority of bottling took place from May to September.  Mounir aged all his 2007 wines on their lees, without sulfur, and never racked.   
     
    Mounir compares 2007 and 2006 a lot; they will both be vintages that are approachable and will last, and their technical numbers are similar, but they are physically and aromatically in completely different worlds.  “2006 is more about sweetness and for some people a heavier character; 2007 is more about freshness.  We will enjoy 2007, but it doesn’t take anything from the aging. 
     
    Some general commentaries on the Crus in 2007:  for people who love freshness and silkiness, with tannins that melt away, the Vosne-Romanées, Volnays, Chambolle-Musignys, and Morey-Saint-Denis show ethereal balance and almost transparent tannins.  For those that think 2007 is a light and easy year, the Gevrey-Chambertins, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Pommards and Cortons will show them depth and power.