Sherbrooke Cellars

Henri Boillot

“…these wines showed vibrancy, excellent acidity, genuine vineyard character, and they tasted damn good too!…In every case, the Boillot wines served as excellent representatives of the fundamental character one has come to expect from these vineyards.”
– The Wine Advocate

Winery

Maison Henri Bolliot is a benchmark producer of estate and négociant wines that are outstanding examples of some of Burgundy’s most renowned growing areas. From his village Meursaults to his Le Montrachet, Boillot’s wines are intense, structured, linear and ageworthy. Farming in Burgundy since 1855, Henri is the 5th generation to be a vigneron in the Cote d’Or. Dedicated and quality-driven, after working at the family estate for more than 10 years, Henri quit in 1984 to launch his own negociant business. He branched off in another direction stylistically, abandoning the light and delicate house style of his predecessors for more concentrated and powerful Pinots and Chardonnays. His tireless efforts were soon recognized with great acclaim by the press, and after sufficiently impressing his grandfather, Jean Boillot, Henri rejoined the estate, eventually buying out his brothers and sisters in 2005. He quickly changed the name of the winery from Domaine Jean Boillot to Domaine Henri Boillot to eliminate confusion with his brother’s estate, Domaine Jean-Marc Boillot. However, Henri seems amused enough by this confusion that he has continued to market his negociant wines under the Maison Henri Boillot label, thus creating two lines of wines.

Today, Domaine Henri Boillot consists of 14 hectares evenly split between white (mainly Premier Crus in Meursault and Puligny where he holds a monopole in the four hectares of Clos de la Mouchere) and red (several Premier Crus in Savigny, Beaune, and Volnay). Like most top producers, Boillot is fanatical about farming. He avoids insecticides and herbicides, preferring sustainable farming techniques to preserve the integrity of the soil. Heavily pruned in the spring to ensure low yields, the fruit of his vines is harvested as late as possible to ensure maximum phenolic maturity. White grapes are gently crushed to avoid bitterness, and the must is rapidly cooled to 8 degrees centigrade. Fermentation is done in 350-liter barrels (larger than the classic French barrique) to retain freshness and minerality. Malolactic fermentation complete, the wines are bottled after 18 months in barrel. Entirely hand harvested, red grapes must pass through two rounds on the sorting table to ensure that only perfect berries make the cut. After destemming, the must is cold soaked prior to fermentation. During a relatively long fermentation (up to 30 days), the skins are regularly punched down to extract maximum flavor and color. The Pinots are aged in barriques for 18 months and bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The wines of Maison Henri Boillot are made in the exact same way as the Domaine bottlings. Every Premier and Grand Cru comes from a single vineyard with a single owner to preserve the authenticity of the site. With the help of his son Guillaume who came on board in 2006 after completing his degree, Henri oversees all work in the vineyard throughout the growing season. The wines of Maison Henri Boillot are produced in a cellar in Meursault while the domaine wines are made in Volnay.

Domaine Henri Boillot
Puligny-Montrachet Clos De La Mouchère 1er Cru
Volnay Les Fremiets 1er Cru