Louis Boillot

Louis Boillot has come to Chambolle, where his partner Ghislaine Barthod is based, from Gevrey-Chambertin, though as his range of wines indicates, he is descended from the Volnay family of Boillots. Louis uses his vast wine experience and knowledge to secure parcels of the finest quality for his négociant business, Maison Louis Boillot. Combined with this local knowledge and his talented winemaking skills, he strives to produce some of the best wines of Gevrey-Chambertin and Chambolle-Musigny.

He was formerly associated with his brother and father at Domaine Lucien Boillot, but set up on his own from the 2003 vintage. The wines made now in Chambolle are significantly more interesting than those produced previously in Gevrey.

The vines are ploughed then run according to lutte raisonnée. The grapes are sorted in the vineyard, 100% destalked, given a cool pre-fermentation maceration, fermented then sent to barrel once the juice is cool again. 20-30% new wood is used across the whole range, with an élévage of 16-18 months before bottling without fining or filtration.
 
The domaine may suffer from the lack of geographical cohesion of the vineyard holdings, especially in contrast to Ghislaine Barthod’s concentration on Chambolle-Musigny. Their son Clément Boillot-Barthod is going to inherit quite a substantial combination one day.
 
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Champonnets                  0.19
Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cherbaudes                     0.17
Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Pruliers                                  0.27
Pommard 1er Cru Fremiets                                             0.28
Pommard 1er Cru Croix Noires                                       0.20
Volnay 1er Cru Caillerets                                                  0.17
Volnay 1er Cru Les Angles                                               0.60
Volnay 1er Cru Brouillards                                                0.28
Gevrey-Chambertin Evocelles                                         0.40
Gevrey-Chambertin                                                            2.50
Fixin                                                                                       0.11
Chambolle-Musigny                                                          0.30
Volnay Grand Poisots                                                        0.85
Beaune Epenottes                                                             0.19
Pommard                                                                             0.11
Côte de Nuits Villages                                                      0.20
 
Pommard Croix Noires
Louis Boillot has a deft touch with his Pommards. Les Croix Noires comes from 80 year old vines on a thick clay soil. Not exceptionally deep in colour, but impressive for its weight of fruit and persistence.
 
Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru Cherbaudes
From 90 year old vines, Boillot’s Les Cherbaudes comes out as a perfectly poised, almost seductive Gevrey-Chambertin, with the fruit clearly over-ruling the usual tannic framework from this village.