Bouchard Père & Fils Volnay 1er Cru “Taillepieds” (Domaine) 2017 is a Pinot Noir from one of Burgundy’s long-established houses, founded in 1731 and based in Beaune. The wine comes from the Taillepieds Premier Cru climat in Volnay, a steep, stony, limestone-influenced slope south of the village that is known for producing wines that lean toward finesse and a clear mineral line. The site’s name—*Taillepieds*, “cut feet”—references the sharp stones that historically made vineyard work painful. Bouchard’s fruit is estate-grown (hence “Domaine” on the label), and the domaine’s approach in 2017 emphasized gentle extraction—an “infusion” style with minimal pump-overs and punch-downs—aimed at preserving balance in a vintage that was healthy and relatively straightforward to manage.

The 2017 Burgundy vintage is widely seen as a welcome year for both quality and volume, following the low-yield 2016 season. At Bouchard, winemaker Frédéric Weber called 2017 a “favourable and uncomplicated” year, a description consistent with the vintage’s reputation for ripe, supple Pinots that can offer earlier accessibility while still carrying structure.

Professional reviews are notably strong for this bottling. Wine Spectator’s 93-point rating stands out as an excellent assessment, describing a wine that is “showing a combination of suppleness and power” and that “strikes a balance between the dense structure and expressive cherry and raspberry flavors.” Wine Spectator also highlights its aging potential, calling it “Built to age,” and points to freshness and place expression on a “long, mineral-laced finish,” with a suggested drinking window of 2021 through 2035.

Overall, this 2017 Taillepieds reads as a classic Volnay Premier Cru in intent: perfumed red-fruit detail, underlying structure, and a finish that emphasizes the vineyard’s stony, mineral signature rather than sheer weight.