Jean-Marc Pillot is the 4th consecutive generation of his family involved in winemaking.  He began apprenticing directly beneath his father, Jean, 31 years ago in 1985. By 1991, he had assumed leadership of the family property, though is assisted by his wife, Nadine, and sister, Beatrice. Pillot owns and farms a dizzying diversity of Premier and Grand Cru vineyards in the villages of Chassagne, Puligny, Meursault, and others. This wine is one of his smallest and rarest bottlings, and it comes from a small, organically grown vineyard in the village of Saint-Romain, about 5 miles north of Chassagne and 3 miles west of Meursault. Rich in limestone, “La Périère” is renowned for its extraordinarily expressive Chardonnay. After tasting this bottle recently, my hunch is that Jean-Marc recognizes this vineyard’s capacity to produce wine that is heads above what generally comes out of Saint Romain. In every way—except its reasonable price—this wine reminds me of Premier Cru Chassagne-Montrachet. 

The Pillot family hand harvested the fruit for this wine in late September 2013. Fermentation proceeded in 60% in stainless steel and 40% in oak barrels. Following fermentation, the wine aged on its fine lees for a year before being racked into a single stainless steel tank where it rested and clarified for an additional six months. Only 125 cases were produced. Pillot does not filter or cold stabilize to rush along the process, so his wines always retain a particular vividness and dimension that is impossible to counterfeit. While always approachable and generous in character, these are authentic wines that express their terroir of origin in clear relief.