Winemaker Louis Boillot is based in Chambolle-Musigny, where he shares a cellar with his other half, Ghislaine Barthod. Louis originally hails from Volnay, where he still has some great old-vine holdings. He served his apprenticeship at Domaine Lucien Boillot with his father and brother, and set up on his own in 2003, with plots in Volnay, Pommard, Fixin and Gevrey. Louis and Ghislaine’s son Clement now takes the lead in managing both Domaines Barthod and Boillot, though the parents remain on-site and involved full-time. Winemaking is the same across both domaines, with vineyards managed on lutte raisonee principles. Grapes are sorted in the vineyard, 100% destalked, given a cool pre-fermentatin maceration, fermented and then sent to barrel once the juice is cool. Twenty to thirty percent new wood is used across the range. These are deftly-made, fine Burgundies.
Louis has also expanded into Beaujolais. He hadn’t been looking to expand beyond the Cote d’Or, but when he saw the quality of old-vine terroir available in Beaujolais, he found it ‘irresistible’. He chose Moulin-à-Vent over any other Beaujolais village because the terroirs here are closer to those of the Cote d’Or, while the decision to acquire a Fleurie vineyard was all down to Clement coming across an extremely good plot for sale. While in their Cote d’Or wines the Boillots destem everything, in a nod to Beaujolais tradition and practice they use some whole bunches in their Moulin-a-Vent and Fleurie fermentations. (NT 13/04/26)
