2015 Volnay

Jean-Marc Boillot’s 2015 reds were in tanks on their finings when I tasted them in December and were scheduled to be bottled in January. Boillot, who harvested everything but his Beaune Epenottes at 13% potential alcohol or higher, noted that the wines were showing more volume in the glass than they had from barrel prior to the summer of 2016. He believes that the '15s have the deep core of material to support their tannins and to last for a long time but he's also confident that they will give early pleasure. (He compared the wines to his 2005s in terms of their volume but says that the ‘15s have less structure.) Yields were just 20 to 25 hectoliters per hectare due to the aftereffects of hail the previous three years.

Boillot always destems his fruit, as he doesn’t like “the consistent contribution, such as floral character, that stems would add, which can partly block the terroir.” He also works mostly by infusion, carrying out just two or three pigeages during the first few days of the vinification, “before there’s much alcohol.” He then relies on several remontages as he does not want to extract tannins from the seeds.