Jean-Marc Pillot is the 4th consecutive generation of his family to be involved in winemaking.  He began apprenticing directly beneath his father, Jean, in 1985. By 1991, he had assumed leadership of the family property, though he is assisted in numerous regards by his wife, Nadine, and sister, Beatrice. Pillot owns and farms a dizzying diversity of Premier and Grand Cru vineyards in the villages of Santenay, Puligny, Meursault, Montigny and Remigny. Still, for me, the family’s finest wines originate from their ample Premier Cru Chassagne-Montrachet holdings. Today’s wine originates from Pillot’s tiny ¼ hectare parcel in the Premier Cru of Les Vergers, which is renowned for producing Chassagne-Montrachet of notable finesse and focus. The sub-parcel of Les Vergers that Pillot works was planted in 1949 . 

The Pillot family hand harvested fruit for this wine in late September 2008, before fermentation in 90% neutral and 10% new oak barrels. Following fermentation, the wine aged on its fine lees for a year, before being racked into stainless steel tanks where it rested and clarified for an additional six months. Pillot does not filter or cold stabilize to rush along the process, so his wines always retain a certain vividness and dimension that is impossible to counterfeit. These are authentic wines that express the Chassagne-Montrachet terroir in clear relief. Best of all, Pillot holds back many of his top wines for late release, so this bottling only left his frigid cellar a few months ago. It is in immaculate condition, having never once seen daylight or anything in excess of ideal cellar temperature.

In the glass, the 2008 Jean Marc Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers is bright yellow with golden hues that announce its optimal maturity. Aromas of yellow apples, lemon blossoms, honey, white mushrooms and roasted nuts each take their turn filling the glass. On the palate is where this wine distinguishes itself, though—it has not a single hard edge. The fruit, acid and minerality are in perfect balance. This wine is peaking now, and (depending on storage) it could drink well over the next few decades. I encourage you to decant this wine for thirty minutes to an hour before service at about 50-55 degrees; enjoy it in a large Burgundy stem as it slowly rises to room temperature. The wine will change drastically after an hour open, and it will open up like a flower blossom when the temperature rises to over 60 degrees, so give it time.