INTRODUCTION
We owe thanks to our friend and Puligny-Montrachet supplier François Carillon for introducing us to his cousin, Jean-Marc Pillot, in January 2020.
The introduction to Jean-Marc Pillot came from his cousin Francois Carillon, a dear friend of C&B and one of Puligny’s top growers since his first vintage in 2010. Jean-Marc’s reputation is very well established. His Chassagne wines, in both colours don’t need any introduction. It is a great honour for C&B to represent him in Scotland, Singapore and Hong Kong. He is our first producer operating out of Chassagne-Montrachet. His Saint Romain and his Montagny wines may still be flying under the radar but should not be overlooked honestly.
2021 is the domaine’s second year of organic conversion. We tasted all the white wines from stainless steel vats, with the exception of a few cuvees which were too small in volume and so remained in barrel and were not tasted.
«Du jamais vu» (never seen before): this is how Antonin Pillot described the 2021 vintage when I spoke to him earlier this week.
Back at the domaine since 2018 and working full time along side his dad Jean-Marc from the 2019 vintage, Antonin was enthusiastic about the quality of the wines, once we had finished discussing the frost spells, the fungal attacks and the reduced yields of 2021. Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot has lost about 70% of the crop in the premier cru appellations and 50% in the village appellations. Chassagne was also more affected than Puligny.
The vintage required lots of man-hours, to fight the oidium and mildew pressure. The domaine is now fully biodynamic, which necessitates increased manual work instead of easy-to-spray chemical products. But in the end the wines are good.
Antonin describes 2021 as a millésime septentrional (a northern vintage), a classic Burgundian vintage in other words. He adds it is a good reminder that Pinot Noir is not Syrah and the crunchy varietal aromas in the reds are a blessing.
The harvest brought to the winery was healthy, although small in volume. The potential alcohols were acceptable; the domaine did not need to chaptalize any cuvées
The red grapes were delicate, leading to longer maceration and careful ageing but very little use of new oak and controlled extraction. The resulting wines are profound, round, with a long finish and a lively freshness.
Without any hesitation, Antonin described the white wines as very good. They have the concentration to last longer than what is being said and have enticing freshness and texture. If only there was more volume.
Antonin concluded that their accumulated learning from past vintages, whether difficult or easy, had helped the domaine to produce really good wines in 2021. This is an atypical vintage that will be remembered not solely for the cataclysmic growing season but for the high quality of the wines and skills of the winemakers.
Thibaut Mathieu
Managing Director Asia, January 2023
THE DOMAINE
Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot has its roots deeply planted in Chassagne, making some outstanding Chassagne-Montrachets, both red and white, at both village and premier cru levels.
THE WINES
WHITE
We tasted all the white wines from stainless steel vats, with the exception of a few cuvees which were too small in volume and so remained in barrel and were not tasted.
Bourgogne Chardonnay "Les Hauts Champs"
A two hectare plot, which usually produces 30 barrels, although substantially less in 2021, a year in which losses here were around 80% in the Chardonnay. Lovely bright white peach fruit and fresh acids. 12.5% abv, making for a hugely approachable, drinkable wine. Picked 17th September. No new oak.
Corney & Barrow Score 17
Recommended drinking from 2023-2027
Saint-Romain La Periere
Too small production in 2021 to be tasted.
Chassagne-Montrachet
This wine is a blend of six parcels throughout the village, totalling two hectares. The vines are well over 40 years old on average. Bright, energetic citrus, white stone-fruit and tensile acidity, with a salty, well-defined finish. 20% new oak. 13% abv.
Corney & Barrow Score 17.5
Recommended drinking from 2024–2027
Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Chenevottes
The first of the domaine’s premier cru Chassagne-Montrachets, this 0.3ha plot was planted in 1948 and 1949, just after WW2. Honeysuckle and apricot fruit, with tensile acidity and salinity at the end of the palate. The depth of soil here makes for a rich and beguilingly shapely wine.
Corney & Barrow Score 17.5
Recommended drinking from 2024–2028
Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Morgeot les Fairendes
The domaine’s holding in Fairendes is just under half a hectare. A resonant and powerful wine, with a crushed-rock, chalky minerality and grapefruit flair on the finish. The structure is more linear, more ‘Puligny’. 20% new oak. Nine barrels were made in 2021, less than half the usual.
Corney & Barrow Score 17.5
Recommended drinking from 2024–2028
Puligny-Montrachet Les Noyers Bret
This plot is fabulously sited, beneath Puligny-Montrachet’s much-loved Enseignères. It is the domaine’s only parcel in Puligny. The domaine has half a hectare here, planted in 1973. Tensile and citric, with white flower perfume and lemony acidity. Fabulous.
Corney & Barrow Score 17.5-18
Recommended drinking from 2024-2027
RED
Bourgogne Pinot Noir
This is made of 80% domaine-owned fruit, from Chassagne-Montrachet, with some négociant grapes from both Santenay and the Côte de Nuits. Dark forest fruit and bitter cherry aromas. The palate is more red-fruited, with a charming wild strawberry character. All destemmed and fermented as whole berries for 17 days, the first 4-5 of which are at low temperature, to extract perfume.
Corney & Barrow Score 17
Recommended drinking from 2023-2026
Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge Vieilles Vignes
As the suffix Vieilles Vignes suggests, the domaine’s village Chassagne-Montrachet is rather impressively the product of 50-60 year-old vines. This comes from 1.37ha, spread across the village. Great purity of raspberry fruit, with violet, roses and blueberry. 20% new oak. 13% abv. Tasted from stainless steel tank.
Corney & Barrow Score 17.5+
Recommended drinking from 2024–2027