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Domaine Marquis d'Angerville

“d’Angerville wines are concentrated, complex and capable of showing all of the fascinating features and personalities of the excellent vineyards from which they are sourced.”

History

The Estate

The Wines

Anniversary notes from Guillaume d'Angerville

Our Wine Selection

History

In the early 19th century, the Baron du Mesnil purchased an estate in Vollenay and constructed a smart maison noble at its heart, adjacent to the jewel of the estate, the 2.4 ha monopole of Clos des Ducs. Many years later, Jacques d’Angerville, originally from Normandy, married Mme du Mesnil and their son, Jacques purchased the estate from his uncle in 1906. Over the first half of the twentieth century, Jacques d’Angerville was one of the foremost advocates of domaine bottling, a move that made him unpopular with the local trade as it shone an unwelcome spotlight on their use of wines from outside of the region to “beef up” their Burgundy. As a result of this, Jacques, together with Henri Gouges and Armand Rousseau, developed markets overseas and this independent streak was carried on by his son, another Jacques when he took over in 1945.

Jacques, Marquis d’Angerville, who sadly passed away in 2003, was one of the great men of Burgundy. Under his stewardship, the estate reached new heights and is considered the finest in Volnay, if not in the whole of the Côte de Beaune. Today his legacy is being carried forward in the same authoritative, passionate and committed manner by his son, Guillaume and son-in-law Rénaud de Villette.

The Estate

In addition to the Clos des Ducs, there are important holdings in Champans, Taillepieds, Caillerets and Frémiet as well as some smaller holdings in L’Ormeau, Les Angles and Pitures with the latter trio normally blended together. All are premier cru and fascinating contrasts to each other. There is also a halfhectare of Meursault Santenots and a tiny piece of Pommard Les Combes, which is rarely seen. In all, the estate totals around 15 hectares, large by Burgundian standards.

The Wines

The d’Angerville philosophy is resolutely in favour of letting the terroir speak and there is mis-trust of new oak which if badly handled can mask the character of the wines, especially in wines as delicate and fragrant as Volnay. However, do not think of d’Angerville’s wines as soft, easy and simple - these are made to last, with the Clos des Ducs certainly requiring 10 years in better vintages and capable of going well beyond. With the high proportion of old vines, giving naturally low yields, together with careful selection and meticulous care in the cellar, d’Angerville wines are concentrated, complex and capable of showing all of the fascinating features and personalities of the excellent vineyards from which they are sourced.

Our Wine Selection

Guillaume d'Angerville's notes

There are many vintages that have marked my memory, but let me focus on two years in the mid-seventies, when I – not Armit Wines – was turning 20! In 1975 – I was 19 years old – the vintage was so poor that my father decided to declassify all the Premier Crus into Volnay Village. So while Bordeaux were enjoying another “vintage of the century”, here we were, licking our wounds in Volnay, hoping for better days. Enough said about this forgotten vintage. 1976 turned out to be quite extreme too though in quite a different way.

This was a very hot year, the one 2003 was usually compared to, although it was not nearly as hot as 2003. Nonetheless, I remember spending July in York, England to work on my English conversation, and even York was too hot! The summer was almost unbearable in Volnay. Worried about over maturity, we chose to harvest our Meursault Santenots starting September 6, a record in living memory at the time. We started again with the Volnays on September 13.

As it turned out, the 1976s remained quite closed for many years, but those who were patient enough to wait were not disappointed. I have two wonderful memories drinking 1976, of which we had bottled 20 Jeroboams for our own consumption. One was for the Millenium New Year’s Eve, and the wine definitely stepped up to the occasion. These are truly magical moments, enjoying wonderful wines with friends and fellow producers. We were all astonished by the purity and energy of the whites, and the density and vigour of the reds.