Appellation
Volnay
Identity card
VillageAOPRed
Burgundy › Côte de Beaune · Recognised on 9 September 1937
- Grand cru
- Premier cru
- Village
- Regional
Key points
- Red only; the area covers Volnay and Meursault.
- About 210 ha in 2008, 144 ha of them classified premier cru.
- Premier cru: at most 48 hl/ha and at least 11% natural alcohol.
Grape varieties
Red wine onlyPinot Noir
Allowed as a small share of the red wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris (15% at most of the vines in each plot)
Only interplanted among the vines
Production rules
50
hl/ha
Maximum yield
10.5
% ABV
Minimum natural alcohol
9,000
vines/ha
Minimum planting density
Minimum ageing: At least until 15 June after the harvest
- Maximum yield
- How much wine a hectare may produce under the appellation (a higher, exceptional ceiling often exists). The lower it is, the less can be made: one of the levers on how concentrated the grapes are. For reference: 35 hl/ha to 80 hl/ha across 67 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum natural alcohol
- The alcohol the grapes' own sugar must be able to give, without enrichment: a ripeness threshold at harvest. For reference: 9 % ABV to 12.5 % ABV across 63 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum planting density
- The fewest vines allowed per hectare. For the same yield, more vines means fewer grapes on each. For reference: 4,000 vines/ha to 9,000 vines/ha across 75 Oenopia appellations of the same colour.
- Minimum ageing
- A minimum ageing period the specification requires before the wine may be sold to consumers.
Terroir
- Lie of the land: The Côte's front; the village at the mouth of a small combe
- Soils: Mostly marls; platy limestone at the foot
- Soils: Clayey colluvium: good drainage and fertility
Wine style
- Game
- ruby colour
- great finesse
- tannic backbone
- fruity when young
Boundaries: INAO, AOC vineyard plot delimitation (September 2026 edition) · Open Licence
Specification
20 February 2026
Arrêté du 20 février 2026 (NOR AGRT2605003A) homologuant le cahier des charges de l'AOC « Volnay » (JORF n°0048 du 25 février 2026, texte n°34 ; publié au BO-AGRI n°09 du 5 mars 2026). Appellation initialement reconnue par décret du 9 septembre 1937.
Labelling terms
- "Premier cru" and/or the name of one of 29 listed climats
Nearby appellations
Sources
- Official sourceArrêté du 20 février 2026 homologuant le cahier des charges de l'AOC « Volnay »— Ministère de l'agriculture et de la souveraineté alimentaire — Bulletin officiel (BO-AGRI)
- Reference bookThe Oxford Companion to Wine— Oxford University Press
- Trade bodyFiches d'appellation des vins de Bourgogne (surfaces et récoltes)— Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne (BIVB)
- PressComparaisons éditoriales Pommard / Volnay (Guide Hachette des Vins, Vinatis, doctorwine.wine)— Sources professionnelles multiples, recoupées
An exclusively red Côte de Beaune village of about 210 hectares in 2008, 144 of them premier cru, Volnay draws from its limestone and marl Pinot Noir that its specification calls very fine — an elegance nineteenth-century writers already placed "at the summit of Burgundy's wine hierarchy," and that tradition nicknames "the ladies' wine." The appellation's area covers Volnay and Meursault.
Mini-challenge
Volnay
3 questions on Volnay, all answered right, and the appellation is mastered in your Atlas.
Preparing the mini-challenge…