2022 Francois Millet et Fils Volnay Premier Cru Les Angles Pinot Noir Cote de Beaune

Francois Millet ran the cellar at Domaine Comte Georges de Vogue in Chambolle-Musigny from 1986 until 2019 — one of Burgundy's most revered estates. In 2016, he launched his own label with his wife Michelle and their two sons, releasing the first vintage in 2017. The wines are made with classical technique: everything destemmed, gentle pumpovers for minimal extraction, no new oak. The result is transparent, site-expressive Burgundy that carries three decades of mastery.

Volnay Premier Cru Les Angles sits on the road into the village, at the same elevation as Grands Poisots, over active limestone near the surface. Francois categorizes it as one of his 'structural' wines — it offers masses of black pepper whatever the vintage, along with the classic structural stamp of Volnay. He loves the elegance the site delivers, and he's cautious with its pronounced minerality.

The 2022 vintage returns to a certain classic Burgundy style — close to 2016 in character. Freshness, finesse, and transparency define the year. Production was reduced to 6,000-7,000 bottles due to frost and mildew pressure, tightening availability across the range.

In the glass: a dark, peppery nose, a palate poised between red and black fruits, firm fruit-coated tannins, and marked stony minerality. Complex, elegant, powerful, and structured — an awe-inspiring purity of place. This is premier cru Volnay from a winemaker who spent 33 years mastering one of the Cote de Nuits' greatest domaines, now working his own vines with the same rigor.