The 2009 Bourgogne Rouge shows off a gorgeous bouquet and lovely depth to its fruit. This is a superb entry-level wine with terrific energy, freshness and class. Tasted from tank. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019. Louis Boillot remarked that he and his wife Ghislaine Barthod were the first to harvest in 2009, but the last in 2008. In 2009 Boillot was concerned with losing the singular expression of site, hence his decision to pick on the early side. The 2009s were made from 100% destemmed fruit, as is the custom here. New oak reached a maximum of 25-30%. Boillot is among the growers who prefers the 2008s to the 2009s, which he describes as more faithful and transparent to site.Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990

Lightly-confitured yet tartly-edged red raspberry and choke cherry backed by mouth-watering salinity and piquant cherry pit inform the Boillot 2008 Bourgogne, a majority of which I could assess, but a small portion of which was still in malo in February. Ultra-bright and relatively light, it should remain attractive for short-term consumption. 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