(WA91-93 points) There are just three barrels of the Volnay 1er Cru Santenots du Milieu this year. It has a dense and concentrated raspberry and wild strawberry bouquet interlaced with minerals, backward and broody as usual. The palate is medium-bodied with tensile tannin, a crisp level of acidity and a finish not unlike the Champans, although this is more opaque and standoffish. In my mind the Volnay Champans has a little more panache, but this has the substance to suggest long-term cellaring will be repaid. - Neal Martin

A notably fresh nose features aromas of kirsch, spice, red currant and herbal tea that slide gracefully into intense, delineated and muscular medium-bodied flavors that exude a fine minerality onto the mildly austere finale. I like the complexity and this is a wine that could probably be approached after 5 to 7 years of bottle age yet should be capable of rewarding 10 to 12.

The 2013 Volnay Les Santenots-du-Milieu 1er Cru offers blackberry, raspberry, undergrowth and loamy scents on the nose, nicely defined and fresh after ten years. The palate is medium-bodied with slightly rustic tannins, ferrous, lifted acidity with maybe just a touch more bitterness on the finish than I would have liked. It's a tad dry, but this still has much to offer. I would drink this earlier than the 2013 Les Perrières. -- Neal Martin