Historical

Paul Pillot, born in 1947, succeeded his father Henri in 1968, and has now handed over to two of his own children, Thierry and Chrystelle. Thierry (born 1979) has been instrumental in bringing this domaine to the very top of Chassagne-Montrachet quality since he took over in 2007.

Viticulture & Vinification

The grapes are crushed before pressing, with little debourbage and hardly any lees stirring. The wines are aged for 18 months, some cuvees being racked after 12 months, others being left untouched for the second winter. Most barrels are between 300l and 500l in size with very little new wood. Indeed Thierry uses the new barrels on his Bourgogne Blanc as he prefers one year old wood for the grands vins. The style is quite refined, which means relatively light wines at the lower end but very classy and full of energy where the vineyard naturally supplies the weight.

The wines are bottled with corks and wax.

Vineyards

There is a regular Chassagne-Montrachet and a particularly good bottling of Les Mazures (sic). Amongst the 1ers crus, the Pillots are lucky to have vines in the great terroirs south of the village such as Caillerets, Grande Montagne, Grandes Ruchottes and especially La Romanée, with very old vines and great ageing potential.

There are some fine reds too, including a classic Clos St-Jean rouge, now with a proportion of whole bunch vinification.