Paul Pillot

The young Thierry Pillot has turned this domaine not only into one of the greats of Chassagne, but one of the very top domaines in the whole of the Côte d'Or. His skill and enthusiasm coupled with truly fabulous vineyard holdings (which include Caillerets, La Romanee and Grande Ruchottes) make a formidable combination. Thierry favours wines of tension and transparency, he achieves this through not picking too late and reducing the influence of oak in the ageing process. The wines are rarely matured in more than 10% new oak and he uses a mixture of barrique and larger demi-muids barrels. Scintillating, vivid Burgundies that offer a clear lens on terroir.

2017 Vintage

Usually one of the earlier harvesters, Thierry, who looks for very pure, taut wines, starting picking on the 27th August. As true to his focused, linear style as these are, they also do not lack ripeness; they mix charm with tension and minerality. Thierry thinks some of these top his 2014’s. "17’s are aromatic and very classy wines. I am very happy with this vintage. The whites are tender and the balance and terroir is amazing…it is many years since I have made wines like this, there is a purity of terroir but it’s a vintage of joy too.” Hear-hear, we think this is a stunning range. Now one of the Côte’s top Domaines.

2018 Vintage

A vintage Thierry Pillot describes as “sunshine and freshness! A really consistent vintage, it was a big surprise”. Not such a surprise to us that Thierry has managed to keep the hallmark poise, freshness and linearity in his wines in such a warm, dry vintage. He picked the fruit at between 12.7 and 13 degrees of potential alcohol. The fruit characteristics are more open and floral than usual but very fresh, super clean and transparent. Whilst they have ripeness, depth and persistence there is nothing heavy about these. The whites have a yellow fruit-leaning profile that dance crisply across your palate. As usual they will be aged in demi-muid oak barrels, of which less than 10% will be new. The reds have substance but crunch and energy, too, the pinnacle of which is the Clos St.-Jean, betraying a silkiness and deftness of touch that would not look out of place in line up of Vosne or Chambolle.

2019 Vintage

2019 is a brilliant year for this domaine, but lovers of Thierry Pillot’s wines may be disappointed – for this is one of the estate’s smallest ever vintages. Yields are down between 50% and 85% compared to 2018. A severe frost hit Chassagne and this, coupled with a difficult flowering and drought, heavily reduced the crop. Whilst Thierry tends towards a brighter, tauter style of white Burgundy he is not dogmatic and proved this in 2019. “I felt I needed to wait just a little bit longer to pick than I would normally. There were some grapes that had 13.5% alcohol but still had green pips.” In the end, Thierry was delighted with the balance he achieved. Alcohol degrees range between 13.3 and 14%, acidities are high and terroir character is vivid in each of the wines. In Thierry’s own words “ it is a great vintage for ageing” – for these hugely concentrated, rich but high definition White Burgundies.

2020 Vintage

A stellar line-up from Thierry Pillot, quite frankly one of the best we have tasted. Thierry himself considers this “definitely a year to keep. The wines are getting grander in elevage. They have lots of dry extract and remind me a little of 2014, but with more richness, or 2017 but without being quite as easy to taste straightaway from barrel.” They are mightily intense but in that naturally concentrated not heavy way. They are transparent, crisp and clear, and each wine displays very distinctive vineyard characteristics. As impressive as they were from barrel, there is huge potential in them and merit longer ageing in bottle than 2019s and 2018s.

2021 Vintage

It is not news that this is a great domaine in the hands of a great winemaker. Sadly, the unavoidable truth is that Thierry produced tiny quantities in 2021, so allocations will be exceedingly tight. Those lucky enough to secure some are in for a treat, in both colours. “Even if it’s small I’m quite happy, for in the end, it’s very very good.” Thierry pointed out that so often with Chardonnay, small yields means wines that are not balanced, but this is simply not the case in 2021. The absence of heat means that the tiny yielding whites are racy and electric, vital and brimming with energy. Harvest here started on the 17th of September and once again, there was no new oak on any of the whites. The reds also took our breath away and really should not be missed; expect wines with seductive textures, aromatic complexity, floral notes and plenty of translucent finesse. Using less sulphur on the reds than ever before, Thierry is coaxing maximum aromatic interest from his Pinot Noir. They have never been more alluring.

2022 Vintage

This another great range of wines from Thierry Pillot – a thinker who really does care about making the very best wines he can. For Thierry this involves a constant ability to adapt – facing warmer summers with a parcel-by-parcel approach to farming, touching certain soils less, pruning later (but not too late), finding balance in each parcel through careful fine and soil husbandry. The results speak for themselves. “2022 is lovely as we don’t feel the heat at all. We feel the ripeness like we had in 2020, with lovely juice and energy. These wines are pure and fresh”. The whites combine his signature crystalline detail and intensity with the vintage hallmarks of flow and building persistence, each speaking clearly of its origin. Once again, these are studies in terroir.

2023 Vintage

It’s hard to describe what an enjoyable tasting this was – as good a range of whites as we saw all week, each rippling with excellent acidity, fine extract and clear vineyard characteristics. Thierry’s vision is laser like – with exceptional vineyards at his disposal and a knack for teasing out great nuance in his range of Chassanges, he’s established himself as a producer at the very top of the Burgundy hierarchy, with a growing army of fans to prove it. 2023 proved to be a quick harvest here, starting on the 31st August and finishing a mere five days later, despite harvesting only from 6am to 1pm each day. Admitting that deciding on a start date of harvest was a challenge this year, Thierry nevertheless conceded that he had probably got is spot on. These are unmissable white Burgundies.