Domaine Louis BOILLOT et Fils -- 2013s from Cask

 Domaine Louis BOILLOT et Fils (Chambolle-Musigny)

2013s  from Cask

Louis Boillot said that for the wines from the Côte de Beaune, which suffered from the late-July hail, he did only one pigeage (punching down) per day instead of the usual two and he did a shorter maceration than usual. Chaptalization was very little in order to preserve balance – only up to 12.5º maximum. Malolactic fermentations were late here. He expects bottling to take place in February 2015.

This is one of the more seriously-underrated estates I know of in the Côte d’Or. If you want value for your money, Louis’s wines are ones to search out in every vintage. Because of the seriously reduced quantities of wines on the Côte de Beaune, we concentrated on the Côte de Nuits holdings on this visit, although there were a couple of Côte de Beaunes.

2013 Volnay

The nose here is floral. The mouth shows red fruit and lis light, fresh, and extremely fine. This wine will be about 12º alcohol when it is bottled. (87-90)

2013 Pommard 1er Cru – Croix Noires

This wine is round, sensual, and elegant for a Pommard with blackberry fruit and very good length. (90-93)

2013 Chambolle-Musigny

This wine is from the village portion of the Beaux Bruns vineyard. Louis says that the difference from the premier cru portion is that the village part has less limestone and has richer soils. The wine shows red and dark fruit with lightness and excellent acidity, minerality, and structure. One doesn't have to do contortions to call this premier cru quality. (89-93)

2013 Gevrey-Chambertin

This wine comes from seven different parcels located around the village. Average age is about 60 years. This wine shows dark fruit, especially blueberries, with good acidity richness, and freshness, but also some calm and smoothness. There is more structure here than in the Chambolle, as one would expect. (88-92)

2013 Gevrey-Chambertin   Les Evocelles

Evocelles is known by seasoned Burgundy experts as one of, if not the, best climats for village Gevrey-Chambertin. It is just north of the premiers crus Goulots and Champeaux on the same slope, and some producers say that the reason that it is not classed premier cru is because it is in the commune of Brochon and not Gevrey-Chambertin. This wine shows finesse and lightness on the palate to go with dark fruit. (88-92)

2013 Gevrey-Chambertin  1er Cru – Les Champonnets

Louis says this wine is exactly like the 2006 version of Champonnets – no small praise as I think 2006 is a vintage where the marketplace has seriously overlooked outstanding producers. The wine is rich, smooth, and long with some minerality and crunchy dark plum and strawberry fruit, and there is some finesse here. (89-93)

2013 Gevrey-Chambertin  1er Cru – Les Cherbaudes

Here the fruit is fresh blueberries and there is some minerality. The mouth is long and round although less tightly-wound than usual. (90-93)