Boillot’s 2008 Charmes Chambertin (from a portion of “true Charmes” he says escaped this year’s hail) is juicy and bright, redolent of cherry, red licorice and underlain by a clean, marrowy meatiness. Firm but fine, well-integrated tannins support this palpably extract-rich, long-finishing wine’s endeavors to stimulate and offer ten or more years’ potential in the bottle. But make no mistake, this is not about tenderness or cajolement. In 2008, Henri Boillot both expanded his domaine and became ambitious qua negociant with Pinot. In the latter capacity, he looks for contracts where he can exercise control over the farming, so that, for example, all of the 2008s – he reports – were cropped at less than 20 hectoliters per hectare and picked very late. Unorthodoxly (for Burgundy, at least) Boillot pressed many of his reds early to let them complete fermentation in barrel. His malos were late but not dramatically so, finishing in August, and most of the wines were bottled in February, a few earlier. (I tasted several 2007 reds from Boillot, but too early-on to adequately assess, and I have not had time to revisit that collection.)

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