Aromas of red berries, orange rind, raw cocoa, warm spices and forest floor preface the 2020 Volnay 1er Cru Champans, a medium to full-bodied, rich and structured wine that's firmer and more muscular than the Taillepieds this year. This is one cuvée that is a touch more structured than its 2019 counterpart, and it will require a bit of patience.

The 2019 Volnay 1er Cru Champans is another wine that's brighter and more refined than its 2018 counterpart, offering up pretty aromas of plums, sweet red berries and peonies, framed by a deft application of creamy oak. Medium to full-bodied, bright and lively, it's unusually fine-boned and refined for what is often one of the more muscular wines in the cellar.

Unwinding in the glass with aromas of cherries, red berries, spices and rose petals, d'Angerville's 2018 Volnay 1er Cru Champans is medium to full-bodied, layered and velvety, with an ample core that's underpinned by an elegantly muscular chassis of powdery tannin and girdled by lively acids. Seamless and integrated, it's marked but not dominated by the sucrosity of fruit that defines the vintage.

The 2017 Volnay 1er Cru Les Champans was showing especially well, bursting with expressive aromas of rose petal, ripe wild berries, blood orange rind and dark chocolate. On the palate, the wine is medium to full-bodied, rich and textural, with a layered core of concentrated fruit, fine structuring tannins and a long finish. The suppleness of the vintage has tempered Champans' tendency to structural muscularity but not its fleshy fruit, making for a delightful gourmand wine.