Mushroom stock and peat-like smoky notes in the nose of Boillot’s 2008 Volnay Les Anges are joined by beef blood and tart, bright black fruits on a firm palate. There is a handsome sense of leanness here, with chalk and fruit pit notes adding further interest if also a touch more austerity in a long finish. I sense an umami-rich savor trying to break through here and it should be interesting to see how this evolves over the next 4-6 years. Louis Boillot’s 2008s – all but three recently racked to tank when I tasted them in February, and due to have been bottled between April and June depending in part on the sensory evolution of their prominent acidity – represent one of those vintage collections that reminds one of the virtues of typical wines from two or more decades ago: restrained, a bit youthfully tart and tight, but back by admirable extract and energy, and likely to reward cellaring for at least the better part of a decade. Having described this collection as something of a throwback, I must note that Boillot said by the time he finished picking on October 4 his remaining fruit was already at 13.5% potential alcohol – riper than in 2007 – and only a few 2008 vintage lots in his entire cellar were chaptalized. The vintage reminds him of 1996 in terms of its acidity, but of the long under-rated 1972s overall. “I bottled a lot of magnums in 2008,” Boillot says with a confident twinkle in his eye. Unfortunately, time constraints precluded by tasting the 2007s from this cellar.Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Boillot's 2006 Volnay Les Anges – from a site between Fremiets and Clos de la Barre, on the north side of the village – is (or at least was in the immediate aftermath of bottling) – somewhat reduced, but responds to a good shaking, revealing fresh, tart blackberry; Pommard-like smokiness and roasted meat; and a welcome refinement and sheer fluidity that several of Boillot's young 2006s conspicuously lacked. As this opens further to the air, it displays suggestions of floral perfume and fresh ginger as well as a riper expression of fresh berries, both of which carry into a finish of buoyancy, invigoration, and savory, juicy persistence. This should be well worth following for the next 6-8 years. Louis Boillot fields a diverse array of appellations reflecting in large part his Volnaysien grandfather's having become established in Gevrey. (For more about this family, see my report on Louis's brother Pierre in this issue. Like the wines of his wife Ghislaine Barthod – with whom he shares a facility in Chambolle – most of Louis Boillot's 2006s had not yet been bottled when I last tasted them.)Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990