Volnay

The Pillots have cultivated vines in the Côte de Beaune village of Chassagne-Montrachet since 1625. A new and exciting chapter began when, in the 1990s, father-son team Fernand and Laurent Pillot extended their family’s vineyard holdings to also include a few incredible plots in neighboring Pommard and Volnay.Today, the Pillots cultivate 15 hilly hectares, covering 50 parcels (including 12 Premiers Crus). Since Fernand’s retirement, Laurent and his son Adrien are continuing the family’s legacy with a tireless focus on maintaining the utmost quality. Everything is harvested and sorted by hand and yields are kept painfully low. Every plot is worked under strict “agrobiologie” principles, and the estate has been proudly HVE-3 certified since 2021 - no easy feat. The family have also been members of the environmental research group DEPHY-EcoPhyto since 2012.

The Volnay is sourced from a total of five parcels planted between 1960 and 1999. Two were classed 1er Cru, Ronceret and Brouillards, but have since have been declassified and assembled as one cuvée.

The grapes are hand picked, transported to the winery, destemmed and put into tanks. After a few days of cold maceration, the alcoholic fermentation is traditionally started with regular cap punching, thus enabling very small temperature regulations of the fermenting grapes. The wine is aged for 15 months in French oak barrels (33% new).

The fine Pinot Noir of Volnay is expressed here with delicate complexity. The terroir gives a round wine with red current and spice characters. A full-bodied wine, vigorous and elegant, able to be drunk relatively early or after a few years aging.