2017 Domaine de la Pousse d'Or Clos d'Audignac Monopole Volnay Premier Cru 750 ml

Domaine de Pousse d’Or needs no introduction and neither does its 2017 Clos d'Audignac Monopole Volnay Premier Cru, except that it’s at your fingertips for $120 a bottle. 

It would take hours, if not days, perusing auction sites to possibly find this wine anywhere else online and with good reason: it’s one of the most highly regarded producers in all of Burgundy—just named to Wine & Spirits Top 100 Wineries of 2020—and right up there with Domaine de la Romanee-Conti and Domaine Leroy. Its generations of history combined with its valued premier cru vineyards in Volnay has Burgundy enthusiasts eager to get their hands on bottles year after year—if they can.

It’s simple: it drinks like a Grand Cru, if there were a Grand Cru in Volnay. Aromas of wild strawberries and violets lead to flavors of herbs and spices, all finished with velvety tannins. It’s commonly thought of as the feminine wine of the Côte de Beaune, delicate in flavor with a secret strength that gets you every time. All of it is calling out for duck and game dishes in the cozy restaurants of Beaune.

The Pinot Noir grapes ripen in Clos d'Audignac, a premier cru monopole with 50-year-old vines just steps from the front door of the peachy-hued domaine house. It’s one of three monopoles owned by Patrick and Benoit Landanger, the father-son team behind Domaine de Pousse d’Or. For the past two years, Benoit has focused on winemaking, which includes some of the highest standards of production in the region. He’s a fan of natural yeast fermentation and biodynamic practices to maximize the expression of terroir in the wines and it shows. 

Some of his amazing work can start to be seen in this 2017 vintage, a standout year for Pinot Noir in Burgundy, when quality, quantity and balance, he told the Burgundy Report, all came together for a poster year of wine. He had just begun to be more involved in the vinification process alongside his father, working to preserve the exquisite fruit flavors of cherries and strawberries by destemming the fruit. Then, the wine ages in just 30% new French oak barriques for 18 months to add complexity and richness without overpowering the red fruit. It’s everything classic Burgundy should be, including our prediction that it can age another 20-plus years in the cellar.

If you have never experienced the utter bliss that Burgundy devotees rave about, now is the chance. If you know that feeling well, then, we don't really need to convince you, do we?