2010 Volnay Les Grands Poisots

Quite sharp and dense. Edgy. Very tough tannins on the end. (JR)

Bright dark red. Cherry, raspberry and a hint of sweet butter on the nose. Nicely intense but on the lean side, with a tart quality to the berry flavors. Doesn't have quite the mid-palate flesh to support its firm tannins, which gives the finish a dry edge.

The 2010 Volnay Les Grands Poisots is a wine of extraordinary finesse. Silky, ripe tannins support black cherries, flowers, mint and licorice in this exotic, richly textured Volnay. This is unusually big, but also very nicely balanced by the freshness of the year. Anticipated maturity: 2015-2025. The 2010 vintage was not especially kind to Louis Boillot. The December 2009 frost wiped out the vineyard Boillot used for his Bourgogne, so naturally that wine was not made. The Fixin yields were tiny (just one barrel) and that wine was blended into the Cote de Nuits Villages. Overall yields were down 40-50%, although some parcels were hit even harder. The Caillerets, Croix Noires and Cherbaudes were down 50% and the Pommard was down 60%. The harvest started on September 22 and lasted about a week. The wines were aged in 25-30% new oak. Malos were very slow and were not finished until September 2011, quite late even by standards of the year. On a much more positive note, the wines themselves are fabulous and deserve serious attention. Unfortunately, the 2010 Pommard Les Croix Noires and Chambolle-Musigny Beaux Bruns were too reduced to evaluate, so I will have to wait for another opportunity to taste those wines. I will report on the 2009s in the April issue. Importer: Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY; tel. (800) 910-1990