2005 Domaine Lucien Boillot et Fils Volnay 1er Cru Les Brouillards

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 89.8 points

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  12/1/2014 - bevetroppo wrote: 87 Points

  If I were a character in Game of Thrones, I would certainly be Jon Snow, because when it comes to wine tasting, over and over again I prove to myself that I know nothing.
  
  You can probably find the first note I wrote on this wine five or so years ago when I expressed my outrage at Acker Auctions for calling it L. Boillot in a listing, thus casting doubt over whether it was Lucien or Louis Boillot. I think they did it deliberately so they could trap a sucker (wait a minute, am I talking about me?).
  
  I won't regurgitate any more of that sad history now because I want to deal with the wine at hand. Still a darkish red, decidedly more secondary than other recent '05's I've opened. Prominent leather and underbrush eclipses fruit in the nose. It seemed ungainly and harsh on day 1, with prominent notes of alcohol and shoe polish, and I was muttering to myself and dredging up evil memories of the original purchase.
  
  I let it go for another day and found it to be somewhat better the next time. More resolved, but still lacking the radiant vibrancy I expect of this vintage. It seems a bit tired, but on the other hand, I've had mono for the past two months, so is that not the pot calling the kettle black?
  
  The bottle has a Kermit Lynch label on it, and he knows a lot more about wine than I do, so I'm going to make the assumption that I'm in the wrong here and this really is a good Volnay 1er Cru from a good producer in the best vintage of my lifetime. However, if it somehow improves in the bottle from here, I'll take the Wall.
  
  I have five more if anyone wants to swap.

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  1/30/2011 - TheFifthMusketeer wrote:

  Leaving aside issues of Lucien vs Louis, I am pretty sure I tasted Domaine LUCIEN Boillot et Fils Volnay "Les Brouillards" 2005, and like its lieu-dit, after a short five years in the bottle, it is a bit foggy to discern the wine's true character, let alone its potential.
  
  More precisely, while there's red and black fruit on the nose and palate, it is in between fresh and cooked, not one, not the next....A mere hit of sous bois in the nose, but muddled and restrained. It's young still, and closed in; overall, a bit difficult to say if it will blossom into something more generous.
  
  As with so many Burgundies, this wine was made by someone, and I am speaking here of Lucien, not highly rated by Coates, to take one authority, as an example.
  
  So, I have to agree with the other correspondent, who did do a lot of homework about Lucien vs. Louis.
  
  David Lincoln Ross

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  8/8/2009 - bevetroppo wrote: 90 Points

  Here's a cautionary tale for any Burgundy lover, even smug pinheads like me who think they know something about it. I saw a listing for '05 L. Boillot Volnay Broulliards in a recent Acker auction. In my limited field of view (you don't know what you don't know), I immediately assumed it was the estimable LOUIS Boillot, who is married to the equally estimable Ghislaine Barthod, and who also makes a wine from this appellation. A quick market check revealed the lowest obtainable US price elsewhere to be $90. Like a wine-besotted leopard I pounced and bought a case for $35 a bottle. I was so proud of myself that I immediately opened one, knowing full well it was too young, but I needed to celebrate my righteous kill.
  
  Well, I posted a tasting note after trying the wine. I thought it was good, though clearly very young and a little rough around the edges for a 1er cru Volnay. Then, to my shock and horror, I saw that the picture of the label on Cellar Tracker was different from my bottle. I had a moment of predictable panic, ran into the recycling bin to retrieve the now spent bottle, and with my stomach performing an audible sinking maneuver, realized that my wine was labeled LUCIEN Boillot. Who the hell is LUCIEN BOILLOT I wondered, as the word SUCKER! reverberated in my head. How did I just finish an entire bottle of this wine without actually looking at or let's say observing the label? My next reaction was anger at Acker for this little bit of subterfuge, which might have been an innocent oversight in the catalog listing, or might not. Am I so stupid that everyone else who could possibly have been interested in this wine called to confirm whether it was Louis or Lucien before bidding, or deciding not to bid? And who the hell is LUCIEN anyway? As I was getting ready to call Acker myself and demand they take back the wine, I experienced a moment of clarity that usual only occurs in comic books: when a heinous crime has been committed, you need the help of a super-hero.
  
  Now what happened next didn't exactly change my life, but it came close. I've been a Burghound subscriber for several years, and he's as close to a super-hero as we have in this realm. I went to the Burghound online database and could only find a passing reference to Lucien's wines actually being made by the brothers Pierre and Louis, who recently split. That was enough encouragement for me to decide to send an email to the Burghound to see if I could get any deeper into the saga. I felt like Inspector Gordon flashing the Bat Signal into the dark Gotham City sky. Within an hour my beacon was answered by the Man himself, who generously provided several paragraphs of background on the Brothers Boillot and the terroirs of Brouillards. Although he hadn't tasted the Lucien wines himself, he thought the odds were that they would be "very good."
  
  At the end of the day, I felt tremendously reassured, but something nagged. Could I find any additional creditable sources to confirm that Pierre was capable of very good wines on his own? That lead me on an enormously time-wasting google search, which only left me more confused. First, a recent back-handed pimp slap from the incomparably crotchety Clive Coates on decanter.com, describing Pierre and his father as not only indifferent wine makers but so unreceptive to criticism that they asked him to stop tasting the wines: http://www.decanter.com/archive/article.php?id=279923. Then, the discovery, duh, try the back label, dude, that the property is represented by Kermit Lynch, certainly a plus in my book. Following dozens of links really didn't turn up anything more definitive, but seemed to describe Pierre as a traditionalist and nothing I could find otherwise impugned his skills or integrity. So I'm sticking with my initial impressions of the wine and the BH's , which is all I should have done anyway, other than never again taking an Acker auction listing at face value again. BTW, the lowest theoretical price I could find for the LUCIEN online was $56 not including tax or shipping. I'll hold on for now and see how things develop.

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  2/19/2009 - FieldingYost wrote: 90 Points

  Black cherry and black raspberry on the nose, fairly reticient at this point, but with air it unfurls quite a bit; touch of sand as well. Tightly wound, almost magnetically repelling efforts to probe its depths at this particular point, at least in the first hour. The tannins are, for a Volnay anyway, quite stern. There are flashes of fruit here, darker shades of red. There is also some tang here, and punch. This excels in all categories: ripe, structured, and a silky mouthfeel (it takes some extrapolation, and air, to reach this conclusion). This is, in a word, promising (note: it is many years from its potential).
  
  If you open this now, give it quite some air. This was fully shutdown at first, but came around considerably after a couple of hours, and after three hours, it sang.
  
  I would say 90+

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  9/15/2008 - Villon wrote: 91 Points

  Excellent pinot, belle concentration et pureté du fruit, mais fermé en ce moment. À attendre 5 ans minimum.

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