1998 Volnay Le Ronceret 1er Cru

Boillot describes 1999 as "a year of lowish acidity, but slightly higher than that of '98, and with more sugar." The young vines, he added, were more stunted by sun stress in August, with the result that this fruit is not as complex or harmonious as the grapes produced by older vines. Yields tend to be moderate here, even in a copious year like '99, as Boillot prunes short and then does a subsequent green pruning, despite the risk of spring frost. He believes that green harvesting in mid-summer is counterproductive; rather than resulting in smaller quantities of juice, "it almost risks dilution in most years; in 2000, for example, a vendange verte caused the remaining grapes to swell even more." Boillot bled off about 5% of the juice in a number of his '99 cuvees but keeps saignee moderate for fear of getting dry tannins. Boillot also did well in '98, though he noted that "the higher you get in the hierarchy of terroir in '98, the more noble the tannins are." (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)

Boillot complained that the '98s were rather hard wines, with aggressive tannins, and told me he planned to fine several of them. Still, he noted, they possess a lot of material, and the fruit required very little selection-in marked contrast to 1995, when he eliminated more than 25% of his grapes due to rot. Because of spring frost and oidium, yields in '98 were in the very low 15 to 25 hectoliters per hectare range, and grape sugars were consistently 12.5% or a bit higher. (Vineyard Brands, Birmingham, AL)