If the Cuvée Carnot tends to take center stage chez Bouchard, it's the 2020 Volnay 1er Cru Les Taillepieds that's the Volnay to beat to my palate this year. Exhibiting aromas of cherries, raspberries, loamy soil, black truffle and raw cocoa, it's medium to full-bodied, concentrated and elegantly muscular, with terrific depth and mid-palate amplitude, concluding with a long, mineral finish.

From Bouchard's 45 ares of domaine holdings, the 2019 Volnay 1er Cru Les Taillepieds wafts from the glass with notes of cassis, plums, raw cocoa, woodsmoke and warm spices. Medium to full-bodied, elegantly muscular and concentrated, it's structured around supple, powdery tannins and lively acids. This is very promising.

Bouchard's 2018 Volnay 1er Cru Les Taillepieds opens in the glass with aromas of cherries, red berries and plums mingled with notions of spices and rose hips. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, deep and youthfully introverted, with tangy acids and chalky tannins that I suspect will have further resolved by the time the wine is bottled in spring 2020.