1999 Volnay Les Fremiets 1er Cru

Boillot took radical steps to rescue his 2000 crop, and has made some of the strongest wines of the Cote de Beaune. First and foremost, he rejected nearly 50% of the grapes at the harvest: after the strict triage, he produced barely 20 to 22 hectoliters per hectare, or a total of 72 barrels of wine, compared to 135 in 1999. "Since I'm going to leave my wines on their lees without the protection of sulfites, the quality of the matiere primaire is critical," he told me. "The wine is made the day it goes into tank. Why would you include grapes that you wouldn't want to eat?" Boillot then carried out a two-week cold soak at 8oC, using carbonic gas to protect the must. Almost miraculously, the extended cold macerations have not standardized the aromas of the young 2000s, although a few wines are quite oaky. Boillot 1999s are splendid. He notes that this is a particularly strong vintage for Volnay, as a bit of hail at the end of May was the equivalent of "a little claircissage " bringing smaller grapes, lower yields and great ripeness. (Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, D.C.)

Henri Boillot is enamored with the '99 reds, despite the high yields, which averaged 46 hectoliters per hectare, compared to 29 in '98. "The most important thing is the thicker skins, which gave more concentrated color, tannins and acidity. The wines are more massive than the '98s but still quite elegant." The vintage is especially strong in Volnay, which got a bit less rain than Pommard, he added. In addition, some early hail gave a natural claircissage in Volnay. The '99 fruit had slightly higher sugars and total acidity than in '98, according to Boillot, who harvested on the early side. Boillot bottled his '98s in December of '99, leaving the wines on the lees without racking until the assemblage He expressed the opinion that many '98s from the Cote de Beaune, like the '95s, dried out to varying degrees in barrel because they were bottled too late. "Nineteen ninety-eight is a mid-term ager, like '97," said Boillot, "but the '98s have more material and acidity than the '97s." In both years, Boillot has produced concentrated, sappy wines that combine unusual density for the Cote de Beaune with noteworthy precision of flavor. Since Boillot added a triage table in '95 (he actually brings the table out into the vines), he has bottled his red wines without fining or filtration. In recent years he has also lengthened all the stages of vinification, including the time the wines spend on their skins after the sugars have been fermented. Boillot makes a number of white wines under his negociant label Maison Henri Boillot, but all of his reds are domain bottlings. (Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, D.C.)