Description

When Thomas Bouley joined his father Jean-Marc at the age of twenty in 2002, he vowed to make the domaine one of the finest in Volnay.  Since taking over in 2012, he has more than achieved his goal, and is spoken of in the same terms as Frédéric Lafarge. His knowledge and enthusiasm are breathtaking.   Thomas is entirely focussed on making the best wine possible, and this means constant work in the vineyards: you get the impression he knows the foibles of each individual vine on his nine hectares, and he can certainly tell you the exact soil composition and microclimate of each of his 29 plots. Intervention is kept to a minimum, and he believes in encouraging the vines’ natural vigour: no fertiliser is used, no systemic treatments, no green harvesting, and hedging as late as possible after flowering. This gives him a greater number of smaller bunches, with a better skin-to-juice ratio. In 2020 he announced that after 20 years of work his vines had reached equilibrium: young vines did not overproduce, older vines had been rejuvenated. Since 2016 he has changed the height of his canopy, allowing the shoots to grow higher and freer, and this has improved the energy levels of his wines. He has relaxed visibly, and now exudes the quiet confidence of a man at the top of his game.   Thomas has some of the choicer vineyards in Volnay and Pommard: Clos des Chênes, Caillerets, Carelles, Fremiers and Rugiens, as well as a 1er cru in Beaune.  His wines are expressive, pure and full of energy.