Francois Buffet
– One of Burgundy’s Top New Producers Bar None
– When These Wines Are Open, They Can Go Toe to Toe with Pretty Much Anyone
– Prices Are Still so Inexpensive Its Ridiculous
– Among the Most Delicious Wines in Burgundy
– Phenomenal Levels of Density and Complexity
– Wines That Slow Your Perception of Reality
– Brisset Is More About Elegance…
– …but for Pure Pleasure, You Cannot Beat these Wines At This Price
The 2022 Vintage
– “Bountiful and beautiful” Jasper Morris
“As is almost always the case when the quality is consistent, the best reds were made in Volnay, Pommard, Beaune and the Hill of Corton.” Burghound on 2022 Cote de Beaune reds
2022 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru “Taillepieds” (48 bottles)
– 90-93 Burghound (Stingy Burgundy Expert)
– Under $70
– Compare Other Top Taillepieds at $150 – $230
– Very Low Yielding 60+ Year Old Vines
– Taillepieds Is Buffet’s Top Wine Along with Clos des Chenes
– Nose: Flowers. Earth. Ripe, Focused Red Berry Fruit
– Very Dense and Layered
– Condensed Perfume from the Gods
– The Platonic Ideal of Volnay
– Huge Raspberry Cake. Black Cherry. Massive Spice
– Lilac Concentrate
– A Psychotic Maelstrom of Aromatics
– Palate: Simply Perfect
– Dense but “Volnay Dense”
– Terrific Tiny Berry Fruit Intensity
– Fruit Precision So Great It’s Like Quadrupling the Number of Pixels on Your Monitor
– Elegant, Textured, Terrific Energy
– Crazy Levels of Juiciness
– Hits the Palate Like a Miracle
2022 Francois Buffet Volnay
– Gorgeous Nose – Almost Dizzying Aromatics
– Luscious Dark Black Cherries and Darker Red Cherries– Off the Charts Fruit Clarity
– Spice, Earth, Tree Bark
– Complex Herbs
– Palate: Superb Complexity and Freshness
– Amazing Compact Quality
– So Pure and Balanced
– Complex and so Mineral
– Profoundly Delicious
– Wonderful Spice
– As Classic As Village Volnay Gets
– The Mineral/Fruit Combo is Something Only Red Burgundy Can do at this Level – 89-91 Burghound
The 2022 Vintage
It’s time to talk about the 2022 red Burgundies of Francois Buffet. First of all Buffet has been on fire since 2019. 19/20/21 are 3 back to back back vintages in a row that can compete with any 3 back to back to back vintages from anywhere in Burgundy. But how could 22 be better? Because it was and Buffet has made another leap in quality. The 22s are astonishing wines and the best set of Cote de Beaune reds I have ever tasted. It’s like a masterclass in the Cote de Beaune from Savigny Les Beaune 1er Cru “Les Narbantons” to Volnay 1er Cru “Clos des Chenes.”
The wines are sensual which is the first word that comes to mind. Each sniff and smell elicits an emotional reaction.
– They have elite aromatics that have clarity not seen before in the wines of Buffet.
– The detail is remarkable.
– The texture is about as good as it gets for the Cote de Beaune which combined with the sensual and melty tannins makes each sip that make the drinker have an emotional reaction.
It’s now one of those estates that when you take a sip and sniff all you can think and talk about is how great the wines are. From bottom to top Buffet slayed the dragon and now has to be considered at the top of the pile in the Cote de Beaune.
Equal to d’Angerville, Lafarge, Jean-Marc Bouley and Comte Armand.
The Wines
First, we have the 2022 Francois Buffet Volnay AC for $47.99 a bottle. Gorgeous nose. Luscious dark black cherries and darker red cherries. Spicey and deep. Ethereal and heavenly. So deep and so enveloping. Gorgeous dusty tree bark, some soy as well. Stunning. Best village nose of any Buffet Volnay I’ve had. The fruit clarity is off the charts. Gorgeous saline aspect on the nose. Now the florals are kicking in. With air it gets so, so good. Almost dizzying. Wonderful haunting aromas of mid to late season cherries, spice, earth, tree bark, hint of sweet cherry. Some complex herbs and a wonderful hint of iodine. Love salt aromas in red wines. Classic haunting Volnay. The depth and breadth plus the clarity make this a step above all other Buffet village Volnays.
On the palate, you get superb complexity and freshness and the fruit is way redder. Amazing compact quality and so pure and balanced. Complex and so mineral. Wonderful sweetness and textures with gorgeous purity and big tannins buffered by intense minerality. This is profoundly delicious. A lithe but substantial structure. Wow the mineral/fruit combo is only something Burgundy can do at this level. What sweet, velvety tannins. A beautiful bottle of Volnay. Juicy and silky with molten tannins. This tastes like 1er cru. Amazing concentration. so deep and so pure. Very long 1er cru quality with amazing tannins and length.
This improved vastly with air, getting darker, more dark fruit driven and so sapid. brilliant! What an elegant, masterful palate. Lithe and fresh. So complex and wonderful spice. Terrific velvety tannins and tremendous spice and so so fresh. Such terrific energy and linearity. Elegant and wonderful. This as classic as village Volnay gets and gets a turbo boost of freshness in the finish as that’s what 22 is about. So fine and refined. Lovely finish and great building persistence.
You get the point. The market is inefficient and savvy Fass Selections buyers will snap up bottles of Volnay for $47.99
“Pretty and airy aromas include those of red cherry, currant and a touch of spice. The racy, delicious and refined flavors exude evident minerality on the youthfully austere, sculpted and lingering finale. This is a lovely Volnay villages for drinking over the short to mid-term.” – 89-91 Points, Burghound
The second wine is the 2022 Francois Buffet Pommard 1er Cru “Taillepieds” for $67.99 on a 3-pack.. Top Tier Taillepieds goes for $230 and up these days through 3 tier. 2022 is just as great as the 19 but a little different. If you have not had the 17 or 19 Taillepieds from Buffet, please open one ASAP as it is glorious after 90 minutes and can be drunk young. The Taillepieds comes from very low yielding 60+ year old vines. The soils are very stony and the resultant wine has head spinning aromas and the most velvety palate one can imagine. The vineyard is bioddynamic and horse ploughed.
This is more powerful than the 22 Clos Des Chenes and the color is noticeably paler. Usually the stony and structured Clos du Chenes is always last at any address in Volnay but at Chez Buffet it is the second to last in their Volnay 1er Cru lineup.
The nose is utterly classic. So much aroma. I could live in these aromas. Stunning mid season cherries. Gorgeous minerals. Flowers. Earth. Ripe red berry/cherry fruit but very focused and keeps and keeps unraveling over hours and days. Huge raspberry cake. Black cherry. Massive spice. It has such lift and tone. High and low toned. Deep. Crisp. The nose is so slamming. So dense and layered. After hours deep ripe Macerated cherries, intense expansive minerals, floral notes with earthy, feral notes and such nuance. The level of sous bois aka undergrowth in this is stunning. It’s bouquet is so elegant and so refined that is almost the platonic ideal of Volnay. The nose is just wonderful and will put a smile on anyone’s face but having said all that it is still holding back it’s full olfactory reveal. This was also great on Day 2. Awesome fruit on the nose. Black cherries, black raspberry, spice, blueberry and limestone. Just super aromatic.
The palate is so balanced, insanely pure, and ridiculously juicy. What a palate. Amazing texture and finesse. Huge tannins but really high quality tannins. Lovely ripeness and perfect freshness. The nobility of the site is apparent in this wine’s elegant tannins and substantial structure. Unreal tiny berry fruit intensity. Has years to go but man this is a dynamite young Taillepieds So much tiny berry fruit intensity. Man this is pure. Like high end juice almost and not wine but it still remains vinous. That’s purity. Elegant and textured with terrific energy and precision. So long and so velvety with sweet but not too sweet mid season and black cherry fruit and inimitable balance. Insanely long. Stunning. Hint of creaminess adds to the allure. On day 2, palate is round and opulent with terrific sweet fruit and wonderful freshness and tannins. Lingering sweetness on the finish. So juicy and lovely. Wow. This is easily a top wine from Buffet. Still it needs 10 years in my opinion. Usually Buffet, like in 17 or 19 can be drunk so young because of the effusive style. That also is in effect for 2022.
Below is the 91-93 point review from the very stingy British Master of Wine (and Burgundy expert) Jasper Morris. In my experience, Buffet wines absolutely gravitate towards (or above) the higher ends of ones estimates as they age.
“A horse ploughed and biodynamic plot. Fine fresh mid purple. There is an elegance to the nose ahead of the Clos des Chênes, ripe floral notes, roses, and a few breadsticks. This is very lovely on the palate in its slightly riper style, with an energy behind and a sense of harmony across the palate. Real finesse here. Drink from 2030-2036. Tasted: October 2023.- 91-93 Jasper Morris
Please call Cheryl at 949 378 5251 after emailing with your firstorder if you are a first time customer (we prefer not to receive credit card numbers over E-Mail).
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I love drinking and selecting wines – but my passion for teaching people about wine is almost as big. I’m happy to announce a block of time each day where people can call me just to chat about wine in general. These blocks are NOT intended to sell wine (I do that all day). This is to talk to me about wine pairings or great producers or how long to age wines or styles of wine making or the latest wine controversy. My goal is to help people learn more about wine and enjoy it more. Call me at 917-912-4355 from 4-7EST Monday – Friday.
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