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. It all began with a relatively mild winter. All the vines were pruned during the waning moon phase so that the sap would concentrate in the roots, resulting in greater vigor and longevity. In addition, they were pruned in two stages to fight the frost. As soil life is a priority, the domaine no longer plows in the winter. Thanks to the preventive measures carried out during the winter, the impact of frost where limited without using any means of control. The growing season was kind for the growth of the vines. With sunny summer and low disease pressure, Laurent & Adrien decided to do less leaf thinning than the previous years. Laurent & Adrien have decided to make the transition to organic viticulture. 2022 is the first vintage that marks their conversion into organic viticulture. Therefore, they will be able to legally declare it starting with the 2024 vintage. The goal is to find the perfect balance in the wines. Adrein aims to work with ripe fruits while maintaining freshness to achieve complexity with a subtle use of oak. Occasionally, a few whole clusters are retained in the red wines, but in small quantities to allow the fruit to express itself. To do this, the choice of barrels has been carefully considered. By reducing the number of new barrels and controlling their toasting, Adrien aims to preserve the expression of the terroirs, particularly in the white wines. Note from Adrien Pillot: I hope that this vintage and the various innovations will please you. It was crafted with passion and enthusiasm thanks to a motivated and dedicated team. We will continue with our various experiments, all aimed at enhancing the quality of our work in the vineyards and our wines. You are most welcome to come and taste our range. I hope you will join me in this great adventure.

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.