CHASSAGNE MONTRACHET
2020 1er Cru Vergers Domaine Fernand & Laurent Pillot
This wine, according to the Pillots, has the highest level of acidity every vintage. Notes of grapefruit, citrus, red apple & white flowers. As with all of the wines there is a lovely grip on the palate. An almost tannic feel to the fruit. Great concentration. It's very lively (that high acidity) and precise. Overall, this is a very good wine that will reward a few more years in bottle and should drink well for at least a decade. Drinking range: 2024 - 2035L&S (Nov 2021)
* This is a pre-shipment/primeur offer. All orders are accepted under the TERMS of this offer which differ from the terms of the rest of the site.
(90% from Les Pasquelles and the rest from Les Vergers proper). A bright and ultra-fresh nose combines notes of lemon, spice and apple with hints of petrol, carnation and rosemary oil. There is again excellent volume and mid-palate density to the relatively full-bodied flavors that possess a lovely sense of underlying tension on the impressively lingering, complex and bitter citrus-inflected finish. Once again, this offers fine quality and is worth a look. Drinking range: 2027 - Rating: 92 Allen Meadows, www.Burghound.com (Jun 2022)
Silky, with a ribbon of pure fruit, a delicious floral, floating aroma, and supple, fluid minerality to finish. Pure and elegant. Drinking range: 2023 - 2030 Rating: 92-93 World of Fine Wine Magazine (Apr 2022)
Precise acidity, medium weight and good freshness apparent. Just seems to lack a bit of the extra depth/complexity expected for a premier cru. Not for the long term but appealing now. Drinking range: 2022 - 2026 Rating: 15.5 Alex Hunt MW, www.jancisrobinson.com (Jan 2022)
A pretty, expressive wine, Pillot's 2020 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers wafts from the glass with aromas of pear, citrus oil, crisp stone fruits and hazelnuts. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and charming, with an enveloping core of fruit, racy acids and a chalky finish, it will offer a broad drinking window. Drinking range: 2023 - 2043 Rating: 92 William Kelley, The Wine Advocate (Jan 2022)
Another wine which Adrien would like to be able to mature for longer before bottling. It comes from four old vine plots. Pale lemon colour. A beautiful, perfumed nose, perfectly judged ripeness of fruit with oak this is a sweeter more generous style up front then the fresher grapefruit character behind, Tasted: October 2021 Rating: 93 Jasper Morris - Inside Burgundy (Dec 2021)
Domaine Fernand & Laurent Pillot
The origins of the Pillot family in Chassagne can be traced back to the eighteenth century, when they seem to have been coopers more than vignerons. In the nineteenth century they abandoned barrel-making in favour of enlarging the property in Chassagne. Fernand and Laurent, who is the fourth generation, added to it again in 1992, and then in 2001 Laurent's wife Marie-Anne inherited half of her family's property, the Pommard domaine of Pothier-Rieusset, and Laurent and his father bought the other half. The domaine now stands at 14.5 hectares of vines across almost the whole length of the Côte de Beaune from Santenay to Beaune.
The Domaine is worked according to organic principles and are ploughed – no chemical weedkillers are used. They have also been members of the Dephy-ECO-phyto group, which works to reduce the number of treatments using copper sulphate, since 2012. In 2021 they began the process of organic certification.
Laurent has always managed to pack in a lot alongside his running of the vineyard. He has his own plane which he flies to all corners of France, used keep and hunts hawks, and conducts the Chassagne brass band as well as dabbling in Mayoral duties - on top of being a father of three, Anaïs, Adrien and Eugène. They are all mad about the alps and disappear up the mountains at regular intervals.
Laurent's eldest son Adrien has been travelling the world making wine all over the place for the last few years having completed his training in Beaune. Bringing back lessons learnt in Australia, South Africa and California (and from a stint at Lea & Sandeman), During harvest Adrien is now the one in the winery while Laurent takes charge of the picking team. The wines have long been L&S favourites in both red and white - they represent excellent value, and they age very well too, despite being attractive young. The whites are precise and pure, and not lacking for body and generosity, while the reds are velvety and juicy, beautifully balanced even if drunk young on their expressive Pinot fruit. The domaine was rightfully heralded in Decanter Magazine as 'an address that deserves to be better-known'. Great value and real pleasure across their range.
Read more about Adrien here in this recent Forbes article here.
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