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The French #Winophiles Share Visits and Dreams
This month, our French #Winophiles are sharing their visit memories of trips in France. Since some of our members haven’t yet had the opportunity, we’ll be treated to their dreams of their first trip. Jump down to the bottom of the page to vicariously enjoy our memories and daydreams!

I have been fortunate to visit wineries in many French wine regions, from stellar 1st growth Bordeaux to young vignerons in the Rhone. Famous to humble, the common thread is that the people who work in the wineries are grounded in the earth. At heart they are farmers and vignerons and each has a story worth our time.

Visiting wineries in Europe is a bit different from the typical tasting room experience in the US. You typically cannot just show up, visits need to be arranged in advance. In return, you’ll often get to meet with the winegrower and learn a bit more about their history, their approach as well as getting the opportunity to taste with the winemaker. Well worth the effort in my book!

The Albert Boillot estate is a pretty little property tucked into “downtown” Volnay.

Domaine Albert Boillot
I previously wrote about my chance visit to Raymond Boillot at Domaine Albert Boillot on our first trip to Burgundy back in 2015. Raymond had quickly and kindly answered my last minute request to visit, and I had a ball.

Just a few weeks ago we found ourselves in France again, and once again, we had a day in Burgundy without much notice.  Since I enjoyed my first visit so much, I decided to contact Raymond. I thought my wife Julie and son Peter might enjoy the visit as well. Even with 1 day’s notice, here is the response I received:

Bonjour,
We begin the harvest on 9 september. It is with pleasure that we are waiting your visit at Volnay tomorrow in the afternoon.
See you soon
Raymond

Entrance to the cave at Domaine Albert Boillot

A Small Vigneron
Raymond farms a total of 4.5 hectares (about 10 acres) in Burgundy, mostly in the area around the villages of Volnay and Pommard. His total production is only 20,000 bottles per year, not even 2000 cases! He likes to perform natural fermentation without any added yeasts, although he checks the status twice daily over the typical 15 day fermentation cycle.

We asked if his vines had been affected by the frosts or hail this year. He was happy to report that his vines weren’t affected this year, although on the nights of frost they placed hay bales in the vineyard every 500 meters and burned them at night, watering them to create lots of smoke. After several years of hail, frost, and small yields, he is happily looking forward to a good harvest in 2017. When we visited we were only a few days ahead of harvest. (click on any photo to view the full size slideshow, escape to return to the post)

Raymond offered to show us around the cave and winery

Feverishly wrapping up bottling in advance of the coming harvest

Wines quietly aging in the cellar as they have for generations

Raymond explained they replace about 25% of their oak barrels every year as they don’t like too much new oak influence

Old fashioned cellar complete with unpaved floor and plentiful (healthy) cellar mold.

Lots of information stamped into the barrel: GF = Fine Grain, M+ = medium+ toast 17 = the year of the barrel (helpful on an older barrel)

Stained from years of use

Watch your head on the passage to the winery

Everything is clean and ready for harvest to commence, any day.

Raymond patiently answered all of Peter’s questions while I took notes. Notice the horizontal basket press behind us!

Time to taste the 2015’s

Nothing like the pale ruby color of a red wine from Burgundy

We could taste the difference between the soils of Volnay and Pommard

Snooping Around the Vineyards in Volnay
So if you find yourself in the Côte de Beaune, by all means, look up Raymond at Domaine Albert Boillot in Volnay for a memorable visit.  Then, be sure to leave yourself some time to walk in the vineyards around Volnay!

Bourgogne!

Domaine Albert Boillot plots are located in Volnay and Pommard.

A fun older graphic explaining the arrangement of Bourgogne, Village, and 1er cru vineyard sites in Burgundy.

Nearly ripe Pinot Noir grapes in Volnay

An old vine in 1er cru soil in Volnay

Picking is only days away

If you have the time, you can go and find the exact plot your wine comes from. It’s fun to track it down!

Pinot Noir grapes growing in stony 1er cru soil in Volnay.

Souvenirs of Our Visit
We bought several bottles of each of Raymond’s Volnay and Pommard 1er Cru wines.  We enjoyed one while still in France and will think of our visit every time we open one back at home.

French Winophiles Memories and Dreams
Take a look at the daydreams and memories shared by our group. If you see this post in time, we welcome you to join us this Saturday, September 16^th, at 10 am CDT. We’ll be chatting on Twitter, using the #Winophiles hashtag in our tweets.  Share your dreams or memories with us!

Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm promises One of These Days . . . .

Martin from Enofylz Wine Blog shares Champagne Chronicles Redux; A Week In Champagne, A Lifetime Of Memories.

Jeff from Food Wine Click will talk about one of his favorite French Wine Visits – Our Friend, Raymond Boillot.

Jill from L’occasion tells the tale of A Château in Provence.

Lauren from The Swirling Dervish asks Do You Know the Way to Vézelay?

Many Memorable Visits
As previously mentioned, I’ve had many memorable winegrower visits in France.  Here are some other favorites:

• Chateau Buffavent in Beaujolais
• Domaine Morey-Coffinet in Burgundy
• Maison Harbour in Burgundy
• Domaine Louis Max in Burgundy
• Domaine Jean-Louis Chave in the Northern Rhone (and part two here)
• Domaine de Beaurenard in the Southern Rhone
• Domaine Rouge-Bleu in the Southern Rhone
• Château Suduiraut in Bordeaux
• Château Phélan-Ségur in Bordeaux

… and many more to come!