TN: 2000 JM Boillot Volnay 1er Cru "Les Pitures"

WINE TALK
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2000 JM Boillot Volnay 1er Cru "Les Pitures"

1st experience with this producer. A recent whim of an acquisition for a song (actually I think I mistook it for Henri Boillot).

Medium dark red. Unusual raw sausage, merde, stewed (almost rotting) cherry fruit and possibly some sulfur on the nose. Lighter body, thin mid-palate without much concentration, acidity initially astringent that carried through to the finish, which also had coarse tannins. I wasn’t sure if this was an example of a closed, or semi-dead, wine. So, in the spirit of Stuart and Francois, I let it sit for a couple days to see if it could be resurrected. No miracles, but the astringency mellowed out a bit and the off-aromas dissipated somewhat.

I generally really like wines with savory elements, especially Northern Rhones. But this seemed a little off to me.

Anybody have experience with this producer? Any relation to the other Boillots?

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They make a range of whites and reds across the CdN appellations. I have always found the wines very decent and, in some cases very good. Quite a solid second-tier maker I would say. The only mediocre experience I have had was probably a 1996 Beaune 1er Cru Montrevennots not too long back. Other than that, the other wines have been of quite a consistently good standard.

Caveat is that I think that both the whites and reds need some age. Good fruit, nice clarity, but they tend to shut down quite quickly after a couple of years in the bottle, with oak coming out a bit. Some of the whites from the early 90s have really struck a chord with me though. I have also always preferred the reds with a good amount of age on them. The younger ones tend to be good but a little anonymous.