2012 Chambertin Grand Cru

I tasted this year with Henri Boillot's son Guillaume, who has taken over winemaking responsibilities for the red wines here. Guillaume told me he has cut back somewhat on extraction: instead of doing an 8-to-10-day cold soak at 8 degrees C, he did 5 days at 12 or 13 degrees in 2012. And he also reduced the number of pigeages from two or three per day to one or two. He explained that he is seeking more definition of terroir and was also afraid of getting a hail taste in some of his Cote de Beaune wines. He plans to cut the percentage of new oak somewhat in 2013.Average yields in 2012 were a tiny 15 hectoliters per hectare, and roughly the same in 2013. Grape sugars in 2012 were generally 12.8% to 13% and Boillot did a bit of chaptalization to prolong the vinifications. As I tasted through the line-up of 2012s, which had been moved into cuves after the 2013 harvest and were scheduled to be bottled in early December, it struck me that Henri would have made thicker, darker wines with the raw materials of 2012. But Guillaume's may be more refined and delineated, and they certainly don't lack for intensity.

Henri Boillot is one of the most vocal advocates about the state of affairs in Volnay. Boillot told me since 1989 he has lost the equivalent of five crops because of hail, which he believes is mostly the result of deforestation that was carried out in 1980s to facilitate industrial expansion in Volnay. Specifically, the Pinot came in at 10-15 hectoliters per hectare, about one-third of normal, while the Chardonnay harvest was a bit more bountiful, but still only 50% of a typical year. The 2012 reds were made by Boillot's son, Guillaume, whom I did not see on this trip. Henri Boillot told me he did very little with the 2012 reds, and that they are the sole work of Guillaume, whose style may turn out to be more restrained than his father's. Henri Boillot was quite matter of fact in saying he would have made richer wines in 2012, while none of Guillaume Boillot's wines are above 13% in alcohol. These are clearly wines of transition. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how things develop over the coming years here. Henri Boillot continues to make the whites. The 2012s are big, rich Chardonnays that seem best suited to near and medium-term drinking. Boillot plans to focus on fewer appellations and only those where he can get fruit of the quality that meets his standards. As part of this streamlining, Boillot has eliminated his Chassagne village and 1er Cru bottlings. I tasted all of the 2012 whites from bottle last summer.