The 2020 Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Chateau des Ducs is liable to overshadow even the emblematic Clos des Chênes this year. Offering up a profound bouquet of blackberries, sweet spices, rose petals, orange rind, summer truffles and forest floor, it's medium to full-bodied, velvety and immensely concentrated, with lively acids, abundant but almost imperceptible tannins and a long, saline finish.

It will be very interesting to compare the 2018 Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Chateau des Ducs with the Clos des Chênes 20 years from now. Though the latter has long been the domaine's emblematic bottling, for several years the Lafarge family has taken to presenting Clos du Chateau des Ducs at the end of the tasting, and it's priced slightly higher too. Destemmed entirely by hand, the wine reveals a generous bouquet of sweet berries, licorice, rich soil tones, black truffles and spice, followed by a medium to full-bodied palate that's more expressive and enveloping, its textural attack segueing into a deep core, concluding with a long and precise finish.

Destemmed entirely by hand, the 2017 Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Chateau des Ducs offers up a lovely bouquet of cassis, blackberries, earthy forest floor and grilled game bird. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and generous, with the richest, most gourmand profile of the premiers crus in the Lafarge cellar, structured around beautifully refined tannins and concluding with a long, generous finish.