Burgundy Presentation at Southern Pinot Workshop
Burgundies tasted
Southern Pinot Noir Workshop Burgundy Presentation January 2020
Presented by Lynnette Hudson
The aim being to compare one producer, Louis Boillot from Burgundy; Cote D’Or who has vineyards in both the Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune looking at three consecutive vintages. That of the years of 2014, 2015 and 2016. The point of this tasting is to highlight the differences between the Cote de Nuits and Cote de Beaune by reducing as many variables as possible. Only one producer was selected where they used similar winemaking techniques for each vineyard. By comparing the two vineyards, one from the Cote de Beaune and one from the Cote de Nuits across three vintages it helps to identify the differences in the soil and terroir in both of these regions rather than the vintage stamp taking over.
Producer: Louis Boillot
Nuits Saint Georges, Les Pruliers 1 Cru 2014, 2015, 2016,
Volnay, Angles, 1Cru 2014, 2015, 2016
Louis Boillot
Today purity and transparency increasingly dominate the style of wines coming out of Burgundy and the prices for wines from the most iconic producers have skyrocketed. These iconic producers are often impossible to access or afford but there are a handful of domaines who make wines of profound expression, but whose prices remain attractive. At the top of many peoples list of such producers is Louis Boillot. Louis Boillot’s emerging position within the status of Burgundy is a direct result of dedication, hard work and an armoury of amazing vineyards situated in some of the best sites within each appellation. Louis established his domaine in 2002 and thanks to four generations of Boillots having acquired prime sites in Volnay and Gevrey Chambertin he has reaped the benefit of inheriting incredible vineyards combined with his in-depth experience and knowledge and as a result taken his new domaine to new heights.
Louis’ domaine has quietly become one of the most admired small estates in the Côte d’Or. The turning point came in the mid-2000s when he and his partner, the supremely talented Ghislaine Barthod built a cellar together in Chambolle-Musigny.
This brought two of Burgundy’s most gifted winemakers together, working and tasting side by side with incredible results. The vineyard management was also combined, with Louis responsible for not only his own vines, but those of Ghislaine as well.
Louis is a master in the vineyard with more than 30 years of experience, employing the minimum of interventions, and meticulously pruning for balanced yields. His winemaking is equally timeless, featuring extended, gentle extractions and a limited use of new barrels.
VINEYARD INFORMATION:
Louis has many small parcels in and around Gevrey-Chambertin (in the Côte de Nuits) and Volnay (in the Côte de Beaune). These vineyards average over 50 years old, Boillot’s vines rank among the oldest in Burgundy. All the grapes are harvested by hand.
WINEMAKING NOTES
Viticulture is “lutte raisonée” like Sustainable Viticulture in NZ.
No chemical fertilizers, herbicides or pesticides are used and vines are pruned to achieve balance.
Grapes are macerated (skins sit with the juice) in the naturally cool cellar for a few days until fermentations start of their own accord.
New wood is used sparingly, with wines receiving up to 30% in top vintages.
The estate purchased several vineyards in Moulin- a-Vent, and began vinifying with the 2014 vintage. Average vine age is in the 50-60 year old range.
The vines are ploughed then run according to Sustainable practices. The grapes are sorted in the vineyard, 100% destemmed, 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 maturation in barrel for 16-18 months before bottling without fining or filtration.
Les Angles
Les Angles is a Premier Cru vineyard of the Volnay appellation in the Cote de Beaune. Situated just to the east of Volnay village itself, this walled vineyard is one of several wedged between the village centre and the D973 road as it heads south from Pommard towards Auxey-Duresses.
Here, they benefit from well-drained, limestone-rich soils and a south-east-facing aspect helping the vines to capitalize on the morning and early afternoon sunlight. This vineyard enjoys south-east exposure with a thin, brown, pebbly soil over limestone with excellent drainage. Louis Boillot is an excellent and highly regarded producer for this vineyard.
Les Pruliers
Moderate slope, though a little steeper at the top of the vineyard. There are plenty of small stones especially at the southern end, with a high clay content. Clay in burgundy is said to give fatness and richness to the resulting wines.
Vintage Overview
2014 Vintage
Good conditions initially, spring was warm and dry leading to an early budbreak and an uneventful flowering in early June throughout Burgundy.
28th June a huge hailstorm hit the Cote de Beaune as in 2012 and 2013
The Cote de Nuits was not as badly hit but some producers had considerable damage.
The summer was poor, wet and chilly conditions interspersed with a few hot days in July and the first half of August was even worse.
Surprisingly, little disease, but maturation was slow.
Mid-August and weather improved, mostly dry and sunny conditions continuing well into September giving the grapes a steady maturation and harvest was from mid-September.
From late August there were localised infestations of drosophila Suzukii fruit fly that can penetrate and damage grapes especially soft skin varieties such as Pinot Noir.
These flies provoke sour rot and careful sorting in the vineyard and winery are essential to reduce this problem.
Due to this problem some producers panicked and picked too early resulting in hard tannins in their Pinot.
2015 Vintage
Extraordinary year
Mild wet winter replenished water reserves which was needed as the summer was hot and dry.
There were a few inches of rain in June, followed by another inch in August. These were critical to refresh the vineyards to ensure even ripening but young vines and vines rooted in thin soils were stressed.
Luckily, the few weeks before harvest were cooler than 2003 or 2009 which helped preserve acidity.
The yield was below average but excellent quality.
Picking started around 3rd September and most people had finished before serious rains in mid-September.
The skins were thick and alcohols were typically 12.5-13.7%. Over 14% is less common.
The unusually thick skins with ripe tannins and polyphenols produced deeply coloured and richly structure wines.
There were good levels of tartaric acid and low levels of malic acid. As a result, MLF had only a slight impact on pH’s and hence why so many have remained beautifully bright and vibrant.
There was the risk of over ripeness and some growers waited too long. Some anxious to avoid wines like 2003 and 09 picked too early or added too much acid which resulted in lean mean wines. But these were less common.
Another common error of the vintage was over-extraction, those who left the wines on skins too long, extended post ferment or pressed too hard produced aggressively tannic wines.
2016 Vintage
This was a late-ripening vintage, post-frost delays having been compensated for during a fine summer. 2016 has produced already charming but potentially long-lived reds with a winning combination of bright, fresh and expressive fruit with good but not hard acidity. Alcohol levels are around 13% naturally, although some producers added tiny amounts of sugar to the fermenting must to prolong the fermentation.
There was a devastating frost on the night of 26th-27th April 2016?
Not only had vignerons suffered the frost, wet weather in May and June led to mildew pressure unlike anything they had seen before, further reducing quantities. Indeed, for many it was this mildew pressure in May and June that led to tiny yields, more so than the more heavily publicised frost. Fortunately, this was the point that the region’s fortunes changed. From around the equinox onwards the weather cleared up, with prolonged periods of warm temperatures and dry weather.
There were a few showers at the end of August, relieving any concern of heat stress and refreshing the vines.
When the growers came to pick, in mid-September, they found those grapes that remained to be in somewhat compromised health. Vinification and winemaking passed without event, presenting a vintage where the balance of freshness and intensity is the most striking factor.
Given the challenging start, such a superb result can only be seen as a miracle.
On the night of the devastating frost temperatures dropped to zero, causing the nascent buds to freeze on the vine. The sun then rose in a clear blue sky. Before the frozen buds had a chance to thaw, the solar rays used them as tiny magnifying glasses, frazzling their delicate contents.
Due to the angle of the rising sun, in some places the higher plots (typically the premiers and grands crus) were worse affected than the village sites lower on the slope.