Domaine Marquis d'Angerville

In 1507, a royal officer, secretary of accounts, came to draw up an act of the state of the Volnay estate. Thirty-eight Volnaysiens, called in testimony, described the domain abandoned by the Dukes of the House of Burgundy. The state states that "the King has a third party undivided vines seated Under Roiches these vines are 52 worked, that the total of the vineyards belonging to the King is 275 worked for the main Caillerets, in Fremiet, in Champagnes, 'Abalone and Trimmers'. Under the same names, these wines still produce the most famous wines of Volnay, and the Clos des Ducs, formed of the old vines "Sitting Under Roiches" has an area of 2.15 hectares, or 52 worked. The Domaine Marquis d'Angerville today is, almost exactly, that which is described in the state of the royal officer in 1507.

In 1804, the Baron du Mesnil, sub-prefect of Autun, acquires the Clos des Ducs, a property located in "Vollenay" in the Côte d'Or, in the heart of the Côte de Beaune. Around the Clos des Ducs, the property gathered parcels of vines which, in the 12th century, were integrated into the famous vineyard of the Dukes of Burgundy (Taillepieds, Caillerets and Champans). In the second half of the 19th century, the estate of Clos des Ducs is the property of Eugène du Mesnil, son of Baron du Mesnil, and grand-uncle of Sem, Marquis d'Angerville, who is the grandfather of the current owner.

When he died in 1888, Eugène du Mesnil, without direct heirs, bequeathed the Clos des Ducs to his nephew and godson, Sem, Marquis d'Angerville, then aged 15 years. He took possession almost 20 years later, after the phylloxeric crisis that devastated the vineyard at the end of the 19th century. Sem, Marquis d'Angerville, a former student of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, devoted himself from 1906 to the restoration of this historic vineyard and its reencation of fine pinot noir plants. Ardent defender of "authentic wine", the Marquis d'Angerville quickly opposes some merchants of Beaune, whose practices of the time were not as irreproachable as today. He is then forced to seek other outlets for his wines, because the trade does not buy him his harvest. He will be one of the first, by necessity, to put his production in bottles to the property and sell directly the fruit of his work. He developed at that time a business with the United States. His constant quest for quality and authenticity naturally push him to participate as a founding member, particularly alongside Baron Leroy, in the creation of the National Institute of Appellations of Origin, INAO.

When Sem d'Angerville died in 1952, his son Jacques took over the estate. As passionate about quality as his father, he will build the reputation of Domaine, tireless ambassador of the village of Volnay and his own wines. Very involved in the professional bodies of Burgundy, Jacques d'Angerville is appointed president of the Interprofessional Committee of Burgundy Wines (predecessor organization of the BIVB) between 1979 and 1981, then again between 1983 and 1985. He participated in the creation of the University Institute of Vine and Wine in Dijon, of which he is the first President (1993). Welcomed at the Académie du Vin de France in the 60s, he will be President from 1982 to 1987, then Honorary President. Jacques d'Angerville was also a founding member of the International Wine Academy.

Jacques d'Angerville died prematurely in July 2003, after a lifetime dedicated to Burgundy and the great wines of Volnay. Qualified in the Bettane & Desseauve guide of "major Burgundian producer of the twentieth century", he has vinified 52 grape harvests and largely contributed to the great development of Burgundy since the 60s. He left behind a magnificently held estate, reference wines and a true philosophy of the great wines of Burgundy.

When he disappeared, the Angerville family wanted to preserve the integrity of the estate. Guillaume d'Angerville took over the Domaine in 2003, in line with his father and grandfather. He is supported by his brother-in-law, Renaud de Villette, agronomist, who worked alongside Jacques d'Angerville for fifteen years. The Domaine remains family-friendly, and the know-how of the lost generations is transmitted in continuity.

The Domain of about 15 hectares is concentrated on the commune of Volnay, with a little more than 11 hectares in Volnay Premier Cru:

    Volnay 1er Cru "Clos des Ducs" (2.15 ha)
    Volnay 1er cru "Caillerets" (0.45 ha)
    Volnay 1er Cru Champans (3.98 ha)
    Volnay 1er Cru "Clos des Angles" (1.07 ha)
    Volnay 1er Cru "Fremiet" (1.57 ha)
    Volnay 1er cru "Mitans" (0.65 ha)
    Volnay 1er cru "Pitures" (0.31 ha)
    Volnay 1er Cru "Taillepieds" (1.07 ha)

All these places are based on marl-limestone scree ideally exposed to the southeast. The often steep gradient facilitates drainage and avoids excess humidity. The shallowness of the soil and the work of the vine force it to plunge deep into the basement. These particularly stony soils retain solar heat to restore it to the bunches and promote ripening.

Domaine Marquis d'Angerville also has plots in:

    Meursault 1er cru "Santenots" (1.05 ha)
    Pommard 1er cru "Combes Dessus" (0.38 ha)
    Volnay Village "Grandchamp" and "Pluchots" (0.54 ha)
    Red Burgundy and White Burgundy (1.18 ha)
    Bourgogne Aligoté (0.40 ha)

VITICULTURE

In the spirit of the Domaine Marquis d'Angerville, the production of great wines begins with the control of yields in the vineyard.

Thanks to a quality grape variety and old vines, yields are naturally limited, of the order of 35 hectoliters per hectare. This reasonable production approach through the use of unproductive Pinot Noir strains throughout the estate appears preferable to all forms of palliative interventions, such as green harvesting or thinning.

Sem and Jacques d'Angerville spent a lot of time selecting the best pinot plants. Thus, after several decades of observation and selection work, the family has been honored to see recognized and multiplied a particularly fine and unproductive Pinot Noir strain, called "Pinot d'Angerville".

In 2006, Domaine Marquis d'Angerville began its conversion to biodynamics.

Since then, the program of conversion of the whole domain to the biodynamic one has been completed. Our vines are treated only with natural products, according to methods of treatments with base of dung of horn, of silica of horn, of herbal teas. made according to the lunar calendar, which gives the vine the strength to fight disease attacks, rather than treating the disease once it is installed.

The harvest is harvested in small crates, carefully sorted, then totally destemmed and put in vat avoiding any crushing of the berries. The harvest is fermented as naturally as possible after a short period of cold pre-fermentation maceration.

In general, the estate provides for a vatting of about 15 days, with a gradual and controlled temperature rise, without exceeding 30-32 ° at the end of fermentation.

Anxious to extract only that which is noble, the estate prefers the gentle and natural extraction methods that separate the noble tannins from those that are less noble, and which ensure a better stability of the color. When the fermentation is finished, the harvest is gently pressed and the wine is gravity lowered into oak barrels installed in the cellars directly under the vats.

The new wine is lowered by gravity into oak barrels installed in cellars directly under the vats.

The proportion of new oak is reviewed each year according to the specific characteristics of the vintage. On average, it is 20% for Volnay whose delicacy and finesse would not support more wooded new oak.

The aging in barrels lasts between fifteen and eighteen months. In general, malolactic fermentation takes place in the spring or early summer. The wines are then racked, assembled by cuvée and then put back in barrels for the end of the breeding.