2021 Domaine Henri Boillot, Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru, Clos de la Mouchere

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Boillot waited until 29 September to pick the 2021 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchère, producing a mere 18 barrels. Unfurling in the glass with notes of pear, white flowers, hazelnuts, spices and beeswax, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and satiny, with a chiseled, concentrated profile and a long, saline finish. Like many producers, Guillaume Boillot opted to acquire no new barrels in 2021, but he tells me that he acquired much less in 2022 too. The vintage, therefore, may prove to make something of a stylistic inflection point for this estate and maison, which appears to be shifting in the direction of a more chiseled, understated style than the rather nutty, toasty aesthetic for which it has long been known. Of course, the Henri Boillot brand has undergone transformations in the past too: the original Henri Boillot and his son Jean were especially celebrated red wine makers in Volnay; it was Jean's son, Henri, who launched a négociant label in 1995 and became celebrated for his white wines. Today, Guillaume Boillot has expanded the family's domaine holdings and concentrated his négociant operations, and he is now making as much a mark on the style of the Boillot whites as he already has on the style of the family's reds. 93-94