Dom Henri Boillot
Les Caillerets Premier Cru
Volnay
2016

The producer

Domaine Henri Boillot is a prestigious family-run estate based in Meursault, best known for its exceptional white Burgundies from Puligny-Montrachet and Meursault, but also producing top-tier red wines from the Côte de Beaune, including Volnay. Henri Boillot, who took over the domaine in the late 1990s, has earned a reputation for precision, elegance, and intensity across both whites and reds. His Volnay wines are crafted from prime vineyard parcels, often from older vines, and showcase the appellation’s hallmark finesse, floral aromatics, and silky tannins. In the cellar, Boillot uses a careful balance of new oak (typically around 30–50% for reds), minimal intervention, and a focus on purity and terroir expression.

The wine

The Caillerets vineyard is renowned for its limestone-rich soils, which contribute to the wine's finesse and aromatic complexity. Henri Boillot, now assisted by his son Guillaume, employs meticulous, sustainable viticulture practices, including manual harvesting and rigorous grape selection. In the cellar, the winemaking process is traditional yet precise: fermentation is conducted with minimal intervention to preserve the purity of the fruit and the expression of the terroir. The wine is aged in French oak barrels, with a judicious use of new oak to enhance complexity without overshadowing the delicate fruit character. The resulting wine is noted for its vibrant red fruit aromas, floral notes, and subtle spice, offering a harmonious balance between elegance and structure. While approachable in its youth, this Premier Cru has the potential to evolve gracefully over the next decade, making it a noteworthy addition to any Burgundy enthusiast's collection.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.