TN 2003 Henri Boillot Puligny Perrieres

[jal]

With grilled whole striped bass, roasted potatoes, and a green salad.

2003 White Burgundies were sort of ok when they were young and the acidity still fresh. At this point, I find most of them flabby and disjointed. This wine needed to be ice cold to stay drinkable but at the cold temperature, the flavors suffers a bit. Still, one could notice the minerality of the wine, as well as a good flavor profile. Better than most 2003 White Burgundies I have tasted so far, but I avoid wines from the vintage at this point.

[Chasse-Spleen]

Jacques,
I assume Henri Boillot is a favored producer of yours or you wouldn't buy his wine in '03. What are some of your recommendations regarding this producer? I've seen the name around for awhile now but have never tried any of their wines. Is it mainly a white producer?
-Chris

[stefan]

Chris, Henri Boillot is known for his excellent whites, but he also makes reds (Volnay, Vougeot, and Pommard come to mind).

stefan

[jal]

Hi Chris,

While I always pick producers over vintage, I messed up in 2003. I should have stayed away from that vintage completely. Fortunately, as far as White Burgundies are concerned, I only bought a few bottles of Boillot and Leflaive.

There are a few names I buy in White Burgundy that rarely disappoint me: Domaine Leflaive and Henri Boillot as I said, but also Pernot, Carillon and Sauzet in Puligny, Niellon in Chassagne, Roulot in Meursault, Fevre in Chablis and a bunch of others I don't remember off the top of my head.

Boillot is criticized for using too much new oak at times, but I am not as oak phobic as others. Especially in White Burgundy, where I find a bit of oak actually complements the minerality of the wines, as opposed to California where the wines just end up tasting like wood. I thought the oak was not a problem in 2003, it was just that the weather condition were difficult because of the unusual heat.

As usual in Burgundy, there are a lot of similar names to confuse all of us; Mason Boillot and Domaine Boillot are both produced by Henri Boillot who took over from his father Jean Boillot (as opposed to Jean-Marc Boillot who I believe is a cousin, nephew or other relative and makes his own stuff). The Domaine's wines come from grapes on his estates, the Maison wines are produced from purchased grapes.

I believe the Puligny Perrieres is a Domaine Boillot wine. I usually don't care that much as I believe the wines are very well made, probably because they are very strict in the quality of grapes they purchase.

I have no experience with his red wines. Time for me to change that probably.

I hope that helps.

[stefan]

Sauzet, Jacques? Have his premoxed problems lessened?

Except for Chablis, I also have a higher tolerance for oak in white Burgundies than in CA chardonnay. I am not very fond of Fevre even if his Chablis is well made because the oak bothers me.

stefan

[jal]

Stefan, I'm sorry, I should have specified. Since premox began to take its toll, I still buy my favorite producers, but do not age them. Sauzet is one I haven't bought since the 2002 vintage. Unfortunately, I have had premoxed wines from all the above producers with the exception of Pernot.

[PappaDoc]

Stefan

Fevre has toned down the oak quite a bit since the 04 Vintage. Lemon curd, other citrus notes and sea-shells are now more pronounced. I still love Dauvissats wines for purity. If you can find the 01 "La Forest" from Dauvissat, buy it. I've drunk 4 btls in the past six months and all were young and absolutely no sign of Pre-Mox. I've two btls left and wish it were six. They were $45 a btl at Zachys last Dec. I paid the same price as our Customers, as they were deeply discounted.
Ian, and Jacques also bought some and were quite happy as well.

I've had very good to excellent examples of the Sauzet 04s, 05s, and 06s. I did not buy any as other producers were less money and delivered more quality in many examples.

I did not buy a single 03 White Burgundy as they all reminded me of full blown California Chards with tropical fruits and heat from the high alc. levels. Quite a few White Burg Producers had to acidify 03s, something that California producers have a lot more experience with. When overdone the acidity attacks the tip of your tongue and the back of your throat after you swallow. That was taught to me along with a twinge in the tip of your nose when you first sniff the wine deeply, by Glenn (Claret) at Bistro Margaux, when we did a blind tasting Right Bank Wines and Merlot "Ringers". His "trick" enabled me to guess a much higher percentage of Non-Bordeaux wines

[Comte Flaneur]

Pappa/Jacques - we had a 2003 Raveneau "Monty" at our La-La dinner and it was OK but nowhere near as good as the 2001...unfortunately I have drunk all my 01 Monties; very nice they were too at the price (I didnt get any Dauvissats)...who knows but I think they would probably age...the 1991 is still superb.

I also try to steer well clear of 2003 (red and) white burgundies, after being shocked over how blowsy some of them were at a pre-bottle tasting a few years ago. But one grower really stood out - and that was Jean Marc Boillot - I always like his wines...his generic bourgogne blanc is good value at $23-24.

Btw - shouldn't this site be renamed Bordeaux and Burgundy Wine Enthusiasts? (BBWE)? We spend as much time talking about burgundy these days...

[Houndsong]

BD, I think we need a ruling:

I also try to steer well clear of 2003 (red and) white burgundies, after being shocked over how blowsy some of them were

Did you not forbid the term "blowsy" on this site? Isn't that a personal foul?

[Chasse-Spleen]

Thanks for the info Jacques. I will keep my eye out..
-Chris

[Comte Flaneur]

BD, I think we need a ruling:

I also try to steer well clear of 2003 (red and) white burgundies, after being shocked over how blowsy some of them were

Did you not forbid the term "blowsy" on this site? Isn't that a personal foul?

Did I Arthur? Can't remember or if so why. Not confusing BWE for CRDE; or whatever?