Flavour of the Year 2019 – Maison Marthe Henry Boillot

I find it very gratifying to promote new, talented people and estates; it’s one of the primary functions of the Winehog.

To explain this initiative a bit further, while I find the work of young vignerons like Charles Lachaux truly admirable, these top producers already have the full attention of the wine world and, furthermore, plenty of great vineyards with which to express themselves.

The young, small negociants and estates do not, however, necessarily have the same exposure or access to noble terroirs, although their efforts are at least as admirable and just as enjoyable.

The Winehog “Flavour of the Year” award is for these young and/or new talents in Burgundy.

Marthe Henry Boillot – true vins d’émotion

The 2019 “Flavour of the Year” award goes to Maison Marthe Henry Boillot for wines from the 2017 vintage and for the fine promise shown by both the 2018 and 2019 vintages.

The reason for the honour is that Marthe Henry Boillot produces very pure, energetic wines with magnificent transparency and strong expressions of terroir.

A wine like Bourgogne Blanc Montatine has remarkable energy and zen-like balance with an extraordinary mineral depth and joie de vivre that even many grands crus in Burgundy miss: truly a vin d’émotion.

Marthe Henry Boillot is a new producer, but the 2017s are now in bottle fullfilling the promise I saw when I tasted the wines in 2018, and both the 2018s and the 2019s live up to this fine promise.

More info on Marthe Henry Boillot is found here

Previous and future winners

This is a relatively new award, and has only one previous winner: Domaine Moron-Garcia.

But in past years, estates like Nicolas Faure and Domaine Thomas Collardot in Puligny-Montrachet would have been favourites for “Flavour of the Year.”

Maison de Joncs with Jae Chu would also have been a strong candidate, but she is now at Château Grillet in the Rhone. I still hope to see Jae again on Burgundian turf in the years to come.

Tasting Notes for this producer

Related articles

• Wine with a human touch … more photo sessions this week
  There is, in my view, a common misconception that wines are solely the result of terroir, climate, and the sepage used in the vineyards. In fact, global warming is day by day increasing the importance of human intervention – that being timing of the harvest and talent to create some Burgundian wines in this hot climate. There ...
• Clémentine et Léon Bordet – an emerging estate
  Another new and upcoming estate… Clémentine et Léon Bordet, a Pernand Vergelesses estate located just across the road from the legendary Bonneau de Martray estate It’s a small estate owned by the couple Clementine and Léon Bordet … a new estate renting most of the vineyards. Here is a very short intro from my visit in ...
• Maï Roblin Bazin – a new talent
  New talents do emerge very rapidly sometimes … from one day unknown and then blossoming as new finds and stars on the Burgundy wine lists the next day. Maï Roblin Bazin is one of these brewing and emerging stars: small production, only a few wines, and wines that are not from any of the sparkling appellations. Maï ...
• Tasting the 2026s … a first sample
  My neighbour has a few bottles, tanks, and barrels in his cellar … and this does come in handy from time to time My neighbour is, of course, Marchand-Tawse with Pascal Marchand and his son Odilon Marchand at the wheel or at the rudder. I have been very curious… very The first question is … Has the extreme ...
• Alcohol level and 2026s
  The 2026 vintage was very hot and dry, and while the acidity suffered, the pH on occasion started to increase beyond the safe zone. The alcohol level was the first worry, and while the whites are high in alcohol – 14%+ is not unusual- the reds in the north (Côte de Nuits) give a more mixed ...