Tasted at the Clos des Chênes vertical, the 1953 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes came directly from Michel and Frédéric's cellar. Wow, wow, wow. It has a sensational bouquet with intense black and red fruit mingling with iodine and marine aromas, a faint tang of chlorine indicative of its age. In fact, the more it opens in the glass, the more that marine influence budges other facets of the bouquet aside. The palate has a wonderful arching structure, one that is remarkably quite tight at first (suggesting that decanting would not be out of the question!). There is a little chewiness to the texture, great substance here with dried raisin and fig mixed with clove and sage towards the finish. Whoever refutes Volnay cannot age like the greatest wines of the C?te d'Or should taste this ethereal wine. Tasted November 2015.