Barely medium red. Ripe but high-pitched aromas of raspberry, strawberry and licorice complicated by a captivating floral quality. The plushest and sweetest of these young '16s but also with terrific inner-mouth lift and an element of delicacy to its precise red berry, salty mineral and soil flavors. This sexy, classy wine finishes with rather massive dusty tannins that avoid dryness. (Bitouzet describes this wine as "the German cousin: another branch of the family.") It strikes me as suaver than its even more tannic 2015 sibling.

The 2016 Volnay Les Pitures 1er Cru is blessed with a wonderful, pure bouquet of vibrant red cherries and crushed strawberry infused with minerals, rose petal aromas developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with crisp acidity, gorgeous crunchy tannins and an almost Pommard-like reserve towards the finish. Good potential here, clearly a well-crafted wine. Tasted blind at the 2016 Burgfest tasting in Burgundy.