Tasted at the Clos des Chênes vertical in London, the 1985 Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chenes was nowhere near the quality of the magnum served by Frédéric Lafarge back in 2013. Perhaps indicative of the superior ageing potential in larger format, this bottle felt a little disjointed at first, but manages to pull itself together and offers redcurrant and wild mushroom scents just like before, albeit without the same chutzpah. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannin, plenty of dark cherry fruit, delineated and yet unlike the magnum, this example seems to attenuate towards the finish and consequently leaves you wondering what might have been. It remains a thoroughly pleasurable Volnay, but deducing that larger formats (if you can ever unearth them) have matured far better than bottle. Tasted November 2015.