Terroir Insight: Volnay 1er Cru Clos du Verseuil

One of my favorite Volnays from Thibault Clerget is the 1er Cru Clos du Verseuil, a monopole located on the slope leading up to the Pousse d’Or estate.

This was a relatively unknown vineyard (to me at least) until Thibaud took over at Domaine Clerget in 2015. And while the plot is mentioned in some of the well-known historical books, it is not very fashionable amongst even the most avid collectors of Burgundy.

So let’s shed some light on this terroir; it certainly deserves it.

Clos du Verseuil – plot and location

Clos du Verseuil is a monopole owned by Domaine Y. Clerget, Thibaud Clerget’s estate.

The Clos d’Audignac and Clos de Verseuil are monopoles located just in front of Domaine de la Pousse d’Or’s main building, the old Château de Volnay. The building itself was acquired by Ferté and Potel at auction in 1964, thus creating the Pousse d`Or estate.

The Clos de Verseuil has been under Clerget ownership since 1936. The vines currently are around 70 years old.

The plot and its exposure

The Clos de Verseuil is a slightly northern-facing plot, just like the Clos d’Audignac, and is planted with its rows oriented north-south. The plot measures 0.6807 hectare, a bit smaller than the area recorded in Rodier (1920), where the vineyard covered 0.7945 ha.

Presumably, expansions of the road below the vineyard have removed a bit of area – 0.10 ha approximately – leaving the monopole at its current size.

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