The Les Corbeaux has a vibrant, shimmering nose of bright red fruit mingling with cassis and iodine. The palate is medium-bodied with a nice plump opening – here is a Gevrey with seamless tannins and a fleshy, almost corpulent finish which, similar to the Village, is more like a 2009. I would like to see a little more terroir expression develop, but this is an impressive 2011 that should age well. Tasted May 2013.

The Boillot 2008 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Corbeaux displays admirable fineness of tannin and ripe cassis and dark cherry fruit. Notes of bitter chocolate and herbal concentrates add to a finish not quite as persistent as that of its counterparts from Les Evocelles or Perrieres, but perhaps this was more traumatized than they were by its recent racking to tank. I suspect we have a candidate here for at least 6-8 years of attention. Pierre Boillot - Lucien's grandson, for details on whose history, properties, and connection with other Boillots, see issues and 186 and 170 - noted that his Cote de Beaune fruit required more rigorous sorting in 2008 than did that from the Cote de Nuits, and the former resulted in several wines of relatively aggressive astringency. I tasted his 2008s prior to their March and April bottlings, and (except where noted) assembled from tank. (Unfortunately, shortage of time kept me from tasting Boillot's 2007s.)Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524

Where Perriere is just east of Mazis-Chambertin, Boillot's 2006 Gevrey-Chambertin Les Corbeaux comes from 60 year old vines just north of that grand cru. Here, too, an enticing and mouthwatering savor – in this instance reminding me of pan drippings from a roast – mingles with ripe, subtly-tart cherry and black raspberry. This displays refined tannins, and a darker, forest floor and peat character rather than the spice of the La Perriere. The overall performance here borders on the austere, but the finish resonates dynamically between the dark berry fruits and dark woodsy notes of soil and fungus, while engendering a lip-smacking savor analogous to that of the brighter, spicier La Perriere. This should have at least the better part of a decade's potential to satisfy. Pierre Boillot (grandson of Lucien) vinified and marketed together until 2003 with his slightly older brother Louis (who now shares facilities with his wife Ghislaine Barthod, and most of the same appellations as Pierre, and on whose outstanding wines I reported in issue 170 and again in this issue). They then separated their shares of inheritance, which include equally prime acreage in both Cotes, thanks to Lucien having long ago left his family's Volnay estate (now Domaine Henri Boillot) to stake his own claim in Gevrey. My first visit to taste here convinced me that this address and Pierre Boillot's talent should be known to all Burgundy lovers. Pierre Boillot lays great store by lees enrichment, never bottling before the second spring, and then without filtration.Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524