Team C&J
Because Chardonnays with these designations get most of the attention, the reds often fly under the radar. And this is especially true when the wine comes from a younger producer like Thiebault Huber, who didn’t release his first wine until 1994, after reviving the Domaine that his grandfather, Raoul, tended from 1928 to 1974.
Well, let’s just say that words don’t even do justice to the 2019 Domaine Huber-Verdereau, Volnay 1er Cru, Clos des Chênes; words don’t even do this wine justice. We were blown away. Like so many others, we were blown away. This pinot noir was Volnay personified: light, elegant, aromatic, and airy.
Thiebault Huber took a roundabout way to becoming a winemaker. While he was drawn to the world of food and wine – he studied hotel management and became a sommelier early in his career – he never intended to become a winemaker, or a farmer, for that matter.
It was an ah-ha moment while working as a sommelier at the acclaimed Moulin de Mougins in Cannes that the idea occurred to him: his family had a small plot that was rented to other vignerons; Thiebault wanted to continue what his grandfather Raoul had started so many years earlier. In 1990, Thiébault took control of the family’s small three hectares (7.4 acres) plot.
To turn his sommelier knowledge into winemaking know-how, he apprenticed under his cousin, Jean-Marc Bouley, a fourth-generation winemaker and a highly regarded one at that. But Thiébault didn’t stop there. He took his passion for organic farming and transformed the vineyard into one that was organically certified in 2001 and then biodynamically certified in 2005. Today, the rows of vines are plowed by a French draft horse rather than anything mechanical.
His methods and his passion for the land have paid off. The Huber-Verdereau estate has grown to just under 10 hectares on 32 plots in 22 appellations. Not to mention that the wines are so popular they rarely make it to the market in the US because they’re snatched up as soon as they are released!
The Clos des Chênes vineyard is planted mid-slope on the southern edge of Volnay. It’s a vineyard whose wines are said to be a mixture of elegance and power. In other words, these grapes produce wines that are classic expressions of Volnay.
The Huber-Verdereau pinot noir vines in Volnay’s Clos des Chênes vineyard were planted in 1955 by Thiebault’s grandfather, Raoul Verdereau. Raoul used a process called sélection massale, or Massal Selection to plant the vines.
According to Wine Folly, “sélection massale is a French wine growing term for the practice of replanting new vineyards with cuttings from exceptional old vines from the same (or nearby) property.”
The idea behind that practice is that propagating wood from old vines as opposed to certified clones will increase the genetic diversity of the vineyard, improve the quality of the grapes and result in healthier vines that can more easily withstand disease. The process is popular among Burgundian vignerons as they seek to preserve the best qualities of their famous vines.
Before we dive into our tasting notes, we want to give the quality of this wine just a little more context.
There are no Grand Crus, France’s highest classification of a wine’s quality, in Volnay. So the 2019 Domaine Huber-Verdereau, Clos des Chênes is technically a Volnay Premier Cru. But if you talk to Volnay’s biggest fans, they will tell you that the Grand Cru classification should be extended to wines with grapes sourced from the Clos des Chênes vineyard.
This description from Master Sommelier Ian Cauble sums it up nicely when he calls Clos des Chênes, “…a globally revered, should-be-Grand Cru site.”.
Pronounced aromatics, a signature of Volnay wines, aren’t unexpected, but the nose on this wine from Thiebault Huber-Verdereau is wonderfully intense. Layers of fruit (rhubarb, black currant, and prune), followed by an intoxicating combination of smoke and spice in the form of cinnamon and cigar box.
The palate is near perfect: lush but lean and precise. A celebration of red and black fruits (black cherry, strawberry, rhubarb, and prune), and touches of dirt and mushroom. The smoke, cigar box, and cinnamon spice on the palate lead to a warm finish. Just a terrific pinot noir.
This wine needs 15 to 30 min in the decanter, and it really peaks at about an hour.
Don’t sleep on these releases when they appear on sites like SommSelect. If you have the opportunity to purchase a Domaine Huber-Verdereau wine, go for it!
France
Côte de Beaune
Pinot Noir
13%
Thiebault Huber
62–68°F / 16–20°C
Burgundy
15 to 30 Minutes
Now to 2030
Domaine Huber-Verdereau
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