The Volnay Clos des Chenes, normally the best wine as the vineyard is one of the best in Volnay, is a gorgeous wine with layers of rich cherry and raspberry fruit, full body, and a sublime elegance and finesse. It should be at its best in the decade of the nineties. The village of Volnay has many well-known and good, reliable wine-makers. Yet one of the best and surprisingly least known is Vincent Bitouzet. His 1985s are the finest wines I have tasted from him. A believer in hot fermentations (35° C) to extract color, tannin, and fruit, Bitouzet's 1985s are all rich, deeply colored, quite concentrated wines that exhibit considerable flavor purity. All were filtered with the Kisselguhr System prior to bottling, except for the splendid Taillepieds.