2 Elite Level Volnay 1er Crus - $62.99 - Compare Comparable Wines $90-$470

 2018 Vintage

 - Incredible Vintage

 - I Warned You to Age the 1er Crus When I Sold Them 1-2 Years Ago

 - With Age - The Brilliance Is Starting to Show

 - This Will Be an Incredible, Long-Lived Vintage Like 1993

- I Grabbed Some More As I Want You All to Have Them

2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Clos des Chenes"

 - Wines At This Quality Level Are Around $150 3 tier

 - This Is Mostly 80 Year Old Vines

 - Nose - Why You Spend $150 for Burgundy

 - Super Complexity: Huge Florals, Cherries, Blackberry, Spice, Licorice

 - Licorice, Old Vine Complexity

 - Worth the $62.99 Just to Smell It

 - Palate: Stunning. Startling Purity

 - Precise, Tiny Berry Fruit

 - Dense, but Volnay Dense

 - Lilac Concentrate

 - A 25+ Year Wine

 - If You Drink Burgundy, a Case Purchase at this Price

 - The 2017 Beat the Pants off of a Very Good 1998 Latour

 - The 2018 Is Better

 - Compare Clos de Chenes at $90-$279 3 Tier 

2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Carelle-Sous la Chapelle"

 - Elite Terroir Next to Champans

 - The 18 Buffet 1er Cru to Drink Young

 - Less Dense than Champans but With More Finesse

 - Nose is Gorgeous

 - Cherry flower and sour cherries

 - Floral, So Pretty

 - Haunting and Ethereal

 - Incredibly Concentrated and So Pure

 - Hit of Opulence Just Stays in your Mouth and Lingers

 - Dense and Elegant

 - Just Crazy Energy and Delineation

 - Lovey Earth and Mineral Tones

- A True Highlight Of the 18s

2018 - It Needs Time But the Brilliance Is Starting to Show

When 1993 Burgundy came out, it was hard to see the brilliance. You could feel the density and structure but the wines were just not pleasurable. 10 years later, they were stunning and everyone wished that they had bought more.

2018 was similar. When I got my samples I sat with these wines for days. I peered into their
souls. And I saw the elements of a great vintage.

I've started to revisit these wines and let me tell you - they are maturing into what I thought that they would be. Perhaps more so.

So I've been reaching out to cellar raid any remaining 2018s. Fortunately, because they were problem children, I've managed to snatch a few.

Today is a ridiculous offer for Burgundy lovers.

The Wines

Up first is the 2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Clos des Chenes" for $62.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. First look at some of the prices for good to top Clos des Chenes. 

2018 Lafarge - $215-$470

2018 JM Bouley - $158-$175

2018 Lafon - $189-$190

2019 Bouchard - $90-$115

2019 Bitouzet- Prier $95

2017 Drouhin - $173

This wine is made from mostly 80 year old vines and also a small section of 12 year old vines.

The 2018 Clos Des Chenes has a stunning drop dead nose. Wow. Stunning cherry flower. Insane mineral that is so clean. Smells like pure beautiful rocks. Quarry like. Red licorice. Just a heavenly perfume. So classic and old school and so Clos des Chenes. Sappy mid season cherries as well come out. After air, there is floral, black raspberry, black cherry and is so so precise. Wow. Love the dark fruit here and terrific licorice, minerals, loads of spice and black plum. Just an intense perfume but also this earthy, mulchy element that I just love. It smells like it is from revered land. Elite terroir. Blackberry, spices and licorice also come through. This is so layered and complex. I mean this is old vine Clos des Chenes after all. 

What a palate, amazing inner mouth aromas, such finesse, sweet and concentrated blackberry and black cherry fruit. Fine grained tannins. So elating. Long finish with permanent staining blackberry sap and juiciness. Really incredible balance for such a large framed wine that is also so delicate. What tannins. So fine. So detailed. Huge fruit on on the palate and an especially vivid mid palate There is such freshness here. Perfect marriage of 18 and Buffet style. Amazing raw materials here and sweetness of fruit. So so elegant. So young and so deep. Terrific concentration and wonderful tiny berry fruit with velvety and super refined tannins. My goodness this is just silk but it also has density and structure. It's so unique. The finish lasts miles and exudes grace, class and elegance. It's at once harmonious but also grippy with those silky fine tannins. This is a 25 year wine easy. Spectacular.

Up next is the 2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru Carelle- Sous la Chapelle for $62.99 is a knockout in 2018 I had no choice but to sell it. It blew me away. This is elite terroir and Champans is to the south west and En L'Ormeau is to the west. They are less dense than Champans but have more finesse. You can see the lighter Buffet style, the power of the 2018 vintage and the lighter style and extra finesse of Carelle - Sous la Chapelle coming all together to make a set standout wine.

The nose is gorgeous. Soaring. Cherry flower and sour cherries. So floral, so pretty. Such a Volnay nose. Classic nose. Haunting and ethereal. Smell it for hours on end even if it is somewhat holding back. Nose has some serious mid season cherries, elegant florals and subtle minerality. It’s holding back as 2018 just has so much material. But what is there is terrific, elegant and subtle. After mega air the nose shows tree bark, crushed cherry skins, deep minerals but even after being open for 24 hours the nose is still mute which means this needs some time but palate was rocking.

Palate is just stunning. Wow. Incredibly concentrated and so pure with a black cherry, late season red cherry fruit soak that is unreal. Clean, mineral and so so juicy. Balanced and so elegant with ripe and elegant tannins. Super high quality tannins and a great freshness. Long, lingering black cherry on the finish. Hit of opulence just stays in your mouth and lingers. So nimble. Just terrific fruit. Captures that 18 fruit perfectly. It's dense and elegant with just crazy energy and delineation. This is a wow wine. Even better on day 2. Huge perfumed mid season cherry fruit. So elegant and so precise. Lovey earth and mineral tones. Palate is ripe and juicy. Complex and velvety tannins. Sweet fruit and so intense but also serene. Awesome freshness and purity. So fine. If there is any 1er Cru that can he drink young at Buffet in 18 it is this one. Palate is super concentrated, balanced, pure and fresh. Just awesome fruit and density but never heavy. Such great acids and length. Amazing. Superb chewiness and structure. Has decades to go.

2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Clos des Chenes" - $64.99

 ($251.96 4-Pack) 

2018 Francois Buffet Volnay 1er Cru "Carelle-Sous la Chapelle" - $64.99 ($251.96 4-Pack)