Les Evocelles

This high vineyard is usually a little austere but this is almost seductive. Spicy with notes of blood orange, the palate is fluid before the more architectural tannins reassert themselves. Really delicious and forthright. Drink 2020-2026.

Louis began his harvest on 28th August on his earlier Côte de Beaune vineyards and enjoyed bright sunshine throughout the harvest, which ended nine days later. He volunteers that there is less structure than in 2016 but he likes the fruity, gourmand style. This year he looked for freshness and aromatics. “Quatorze degrés n’est pas Pinot,” says Louis (“14 degrees [of alcohol] is not Pinot”). He will bottle earlier, without fining or filtration, as usual. A very pretty range this year, delicious and pure.

Bronze medal winner at the 2016 Decanter World Wine Awards

Glorious purple, the nose is layered with deliciously rich cherries, more fruit than stems. There is an appealing structure to this, dancing heady fruit and good freshness. A fine vineyard, well interpreted.

The domaine has developed its white wine holdings, with four new cuvées this year, arising out of Boisset’s purchase of Vincent Girardin’s business. Girardin had farming arrangements in Puligny- Montrachet, Puligny-Montrachet Champ Gain Premier Cru, Bienvenues-Bâtard- Montrachet Grand Cru and a tiny holding of Chevalier-Montrachet: Monsieur Boisset has now bought these vineyards. As well as these excellent whites, Pierre Vincent considers 2014 to be one of his best red wine vintages, with something in common with 2006 and 2010.

Made using tiny berries, this is Louis’ most concentrated wine in 2014. A rich, magisterial purple, with plump, ripe, dark fruit, this is extremely pure. Despite the concentration, the wine remains very fresh and crunchy behind: ripe, vivacious and impressive.

The good thing about having a domaine shared between Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits is that you are unlikely to sustain hail damage in every vineyard in any given vintage. The bad thing is that your Côte de Beaune vineyards will have suffered three years in a row. So this year we concentrate on Gevrey-Chambertin, where Louis’s results are excellent in 2014.

The youngest vines here date back to 1964, planted by Monsieur Boisset himself. This is an incredibly graceful wine all the way through, from its pale pink-purple colour, through the delicate yet intense floral nose, to the swelling fruit in the middle and the exceptionally persistent finish. Drink 2020-2027.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

This year Pierre Vincent has been able to achieve his aim of an ideal barrel rotation. Each of these wines has been matured in one-third new wood, one-third one-year-old and one-third two-year-old. Because of the exceptional health of the grapes in 2015, he has also been able to vinify all the wines without de-stemming. His 2015 reds are wines of grace and elegance, while the white wines (picked from 28th August) have an impressive tension alongside a concentration of fruit.

From a hillside vineyard that is ploughed traditionally by horse rather than by tractor, Les Evocelles is particularly fine this year. Lighter in colour than some, this has a long, stylish finish.

With beautiful aromatics, medium density and much more about finesse than power, this Gevrey-Chambertin is lacy and distinguished. It is a really graceful wine for drinking over the medium term.
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director Pierre Vincent’s reputation has been blossoming over the last few vintages, as critic’s rate his wines increasingly highly and repeated success at the International Wine Challenge has been rewarded with the Len Evans Trophy for consistency over 5 years. Pierre is looking to major on delicacy while building persistence, to which end the new oak component is being reduced and the whole bunch fermentation percentage increased. The Vougeraie 2011s were picked over 12 days, beginning on the 31st August.

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The vines here are 60 years old. Evocelles lies in the neighbouring commune of Brochon where there is more limestone. The vineyard is also quite high, producing a leaner, perhaps more ascetic style, but there is no denying the power. The tannins are finely ripe and sculpted. Drink 2021-2030. Adam Bruntlett, Wine Buyer

Louis Boillot came to Chambolle-Musigny, where his partner Ghislaine Barthod is based, from Gevrey-Chambertin, though as his full range of wines indicates, he is descended from the Volnay family of Boillots. He was formerly associated with his brother and father at Domaine Lucien Boillot, but set up on his own from the 2003 vintage. In 2013, Louis supplemented his holdings in the Côte d’Or with the purchase of just over four hectares of well-sited old vines in the north of Moulin-à-Vent (the fruit of which you’ll find on pages 54 and 55). Louis and Ghislaine have recently been joined by their son Clément. Given that Louis thought that his 2015s were among the best wines he has ever made, it is quite a step up for him to say that, categorically, this is his best-ever vintage. It is an assertion that’s hard to refute. His eschewing of current trends in winemaking (no whole-bunch here) and a modest, reflective stance has allowed him to get the best out of his extraordinary array of vineyards and old vines. There are wonderful expressions of each vineyard this year.

Evocelles usually presents a mineral edge, but this year the wine is pure and creamy, with an appealing lifted freshness and, to be honest, is just simply rather charming. There is no whole-bunch this year (from 50 percent last year), allowing, I suspect, clearer sight of the wine’s more genial side. Drink 2020-2024.

Based in Prémeaux, just south of Nuits-St Georges, Domaine de la Vougeraie was created in 1999 when Jean-Claude Boisset decided to group together all the vineyard holdings of the various négociant companies he had acquired over the years. Pascal Marchand was put in charge in 1999, with Bernard Zito in the vineyards, which are farmed biodynamically. Pascal produced powerful wines, fairly heavily extracted in his early vintages but clearly moving to a softer style by 2004. The wines came of age under Pierre Vincent, who maintained the more delicate approach. He departed after the 2016 vintage, leaving behind a crack team, led by the redoubtable Sylvie Poillot. Top-quality vineyards continue to be added, especially Grand Cru whites in recent vintages.

Pierre Vincent may now be fully installed at Domaine Leflaive, but his legacy is still firmly in place here, with the team he left behind brilliantly stepping up to the mark. They felt that the speed of the harvest was vital this year – no threat with their three teams of pickers, one based each in the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune, and another to shuttle between the two, to wherever it was most needed. They began with the whites on 28th August, finishing 16 days later in the Côte de Nuits. They decided the resulting wines, especially the whites, required less new oak; allowing greater fruit purity.

From the very top of this high, stony vineyard (360 metres’ altitude), the vines are planted right up to the trees. There is 30% whole-bunch this year, only for the old vines, and there is a pure spicy note, with a sense of cinnamon and blackcurrant to express the year’s warmth. Drink 2022-2026.

High and east-facing at the northern extreme of the appellation. Louis’s version is notable for its aromas of blood orange, although in 2018 these are a bit less overt. The vineyard’s energy is obvious and its strong and glintingly mineral character carries the wine through beautifully. Drink 2022-2028.