2020 Domaine Louis Boillot Gevrey-Chambertin

Product Description

Few names run deeper through the Côte d’Or than Boillot. The family’s roots lie in Volnay, and over four generations they patiently assembled vines across both the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits. When Lucien Boillot retired in 2002, his estate was divided between his sons, and Louis took his half in a new direction. Rather than stay in Gevrey-Chambertin, he moved his winemaking to Chambolle-Musigny, joining his partner Ghislaine Barthod, herself one of the village’s most admired vignerons. Together they built a deep, cold cellar beneath their home, where two great family heritages now share one roof.

What sets this domaine apart is the age and placement of its vines. Louis farms around seven hectares organically, scattered across more than a dozen appellations, and many of those parcels are remarkably old. The Nuits-Saint-Georges 1er Cru Les Prûliers comes from vines planted in 1911. The Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Cherbaudes, a sliver of just 0.17 hectares, is a century old and sits directly below the Grand Cru of Mazis-Chambertin. In Pommard, the 1er Cru Les Croix Noires dates from 1928. Time and again, the Boillot holdings lie a stone’s throw from more famous, and far costlier, neighbours, yet they deliver wines of comparable depth and grace.

In the cellar, the philosophy is one of restraint. Every bunch is destemmed, extraction is long but gentle, new oak is used sparingly, and the wines are bottled without fining or filtration. The result is Pinot Noir of exceptional transparency: supple, pure-fruited and finely textured, with a sensuality that comes from nuance rather than weight. Even in Volnay and Pommard, where tannins can run wild, Boillot’s wines share the silken elegance of the Barthod Chambolles made just across the cellar floor.

Today the estate is guided by Louis and Ghislaine’s son Clément, who has taken charge of the winemaking while Louis devotes himself to the vineyards. Clément has also carried the family’s instinct for old vines south to Beaujolais, where they have farmed parcels in Moulin-à-Vent since 2013 and later in Fleurie. Vinified in the Burgundian manner, these are Gamays of real structure and longevity, cut from the same cloth as their Côte d’Or cousins. It is an estate very much on the rise, and one that rewards anyone who values purity, provenance and quiet brilliance in the glass.