Tasted blind, the 2015 Volnay 1er Cru Les Santenots-du-Milieu offers up a deep bouquet of red-black cherries, spices, potpourri, espresso roast and subtle grilled meat. Full-bodied, ample and sappy on the palate, it's rich but vibrant, with fine-grained structuring tannins that are beginning to assert themselves on the finish. Having drunk several bottles of this wine since release, the extent to which it's shutting down is clearly apparent, and at this stage, patience will be required.

(entirely destemmed; 20 hectoliters per hectare produced): Bright medium ruby. Darker and more brooding on the nose than the Champans, offering scents of black cherry and blackberry. Densely packed and penetrating, with dark raspberry, medicinal black cherry, licorice and bitter chocolate flavors nicely framed by surprisingly firm acidity. With its substantial but ripe tannins, this wonderfully concentrated, balanced wine seems set for a 25-year life in bottle. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was accessible earlier than the Champans.

This is also brilliantly spicy with its ultra-pure and pretty essence of black raspberry, floral and warm-earth suffused aromas. Like the Champans there is excellent underlying tension supporting the broad-shouldered flavors that are even more mineral-driven on the muscular, taut and driving finish. This wine always ages well and typically needs quite a bit of it and this terrific effort will be no exception. This could well rival the 1999, 2005 and 2010 versions in time.