2022 Chassagne-Montrachet Village

“The harvest started on September 2,” Jacques Carillon told me once I had said bonjour to his cat. (Go to the church in the heart of Puligny and you will find him purring by the window opposite, although I am reliably informed that his feline friend went to cat heaven in the summer.) “The wines in 2023 are less concentrated and more approachable compared to the 2022. The Premier Crus are raised in 20% new oak, 15% for the Village Crus. The 2023s will be bottled in March.”

“The harvest started on September 2,” Jacques Carillon told me once I had said bonjour to his cat. (Go to the church in the heart of Puligny and you will find him purring by the window opposite, although I am reliably informed that his feline friend went to cat heaven in the summer.) “The wines in 2023 are less concentrated and more approachable compared to the 2022. The Premier Crus are raised in 20% new oak, 15% for the Village Crus. The 2023s will be bottled in March.”

There is always a moment when I materialise at a Domaine, only to be met with blank expressions, a look that apologetically says, “No, we don’t have any appointment.” This year, it is Jacques Carillon in Puligny. A quick perusal of recent e-mail exchanges confirms that the oversight was on their side, not mine, which is probably the first time. (Upon further investigation, I believe my appointment was mixed up with someone else’s.) Thankfully, Carillon has a small portfolio, so we nip across the courtyard, where I taste his 2020s in bottle and a solitary representative from 2021. “One week, the temperature was 25° Celsius and the vines burst into life, then it fell to -6° Celsius the following week,” Carillon laments. “I lost 35% of the Puligny Village Cru because of the protection from the candles, but I lost around 80% of the Premier Crus.” Since that is the heart of his portfolio, quantities are so diminutive that he decides not to show them, except for that Village Cru. I feel that even this wine is discombobulated by the traumatic season.

Carillon was not sporting his trademark red jacket when I visited his bijou winery in the heart of Puligny; a late spot of autumn sun meant that it was not necessary. As usual, Carillon showed me through his latest bottled vintage: 2019 plus the 2020s from vat from his 5.25 hectares of vineyard. “The 2020s have less concentration and richness than 2019. It is a more Burgundy style of wine,” he explained. “I started picking on August 23, compared to September 10 in 2019, with the alcohol around 13°. The wines are all raised in around 20% new oak. I believe they should age well.” This was an excellent small set of wines. Among the 2019s, I thought the Puligny Les Perrières really stood out, whereas the Les Referts just has the edge.

Carillon was not sporting his trademark red jacket when I visited his bijou winery in the heart of Puligny; a late spot of autumn sun meant that it was not necessary. As usual, Carillon showed me through his latest bottled vintage: 2019 plus the 2020s from vat from his 5.25 hectares of vineyard. “The 2020s have less concentration and richness than 2019. It is a more Burgundy style of wine,” he explained. “I started picking on August 23, compared to September 10 in 2019, with the alcohol around 13°. The wines are all raised in around 20% new oak. I believe they should age well.” This was an excellent small set of wines. Among the 2019s, I thought the Puligny Les Perrières really stood out, whereas the Les Referts just has the edge.

Monsieur Carillon cut a striking figure attired in his regulation facemask and thick rounded glasses. This is always a short tasting, as Carillon only produces half-a-dozen cuvées, which afforded me time to taste his bottled 2018s after the 2019s. “There was a little frost in Puligny,” he rued. “We found that the grapes were very small. We were predicting a harvest on 20 September, but as sugar levels increased that date was brought forward to 15 and finally 10 September. Yields were low due to a combination of frost, the poor flowering, plus the dryness. The 2019s are matured in 15% new oak for Village Crus and 20% for the Premier Crus, alcohol levels are around 14° and 14.5° respectively. The dryness concentrated both the sugar and acidity. The 2018s, which were bottled in March 2020, are more massive and contain less alcohol than the 2019s.” Carillon’s wines are your quintessential nervy, steely Pulignys. Choosing between the two most recent vintages was difficult but at this address I might err slightly towards 2018 over 2019 by a small and mutable margin.

Monsieur Carillon cut a striking figure attired in his regulation facemask and thick rounded glasses. This is always a short tasting, as Carillon only produces half-a-dozen cuvées, which afforded me time to taste his bottled 2018s after the 2019s. “There was a little frost in Puligny,” he rued. “We found that the grapes were very small. We were predicting a harvest on 20 September, but as sugar levels increased that date was brought forward to 15 and finally 10 September. Yields were low due to a combination of frost, the poor flowering, plus the dryness. The 2019s are matured in 15% new oak for Village Crus and 20% for the Premier Crus, alcohol levels are around 14° and 14.5° respectively. The dryness concentrated both the sugar and acidity. The 2018s, which were bottled in March 2020, are more massive and contain less alcohol than the 2019s.” Carillon’s wines are your quintessential nervy, steely Pulignys. Choosing between the two most recent vintages was difficult but at this address I might err slightly towards 2018 over 2019 by a small and mutable margin.

My tasting with Jacques Carillon never takes long since this diminutive Domaine only has half a dozen cuvées. And it will get shorter from 2018 since his father's lease on the Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chenevottes came to an end so that henceforth the totality of the family's holding will be made by his brother at Domaine François Carillon. At least the quality of wines at this address is superlative. He told me that he began the picking on 28 August and that he adopts the "Roulot" method of 12 months in barrel and then six months in stainless steel before bottling. As usual, I tasted through the last two vintages, so you will find notes for both 2017 and 2018 here .

My tasting with Jacques Carillon never takes long since this diminutive Domaine only has half a dozen cuvées. And it will get shorter from 2018 since his father's lease on the Chassagne-Montrachet Les Chenevottes came to an end so that henceforth the totality of the family's holding will be made by his brother at Domaine François Carillon. At least the quality of wines at this address is superlative. He told me that he began the picking on 28 August and that he adopts the "Roulot" method of 12 months in barrel and then six months in stainless steel before bottling. As usual, I tasted through the last two vintages, so you will find notes for both 2017 and 2018 here .

Jacques Carillon, who started picking on September 1, believes his grapes lost some acidity during the warm nights just before the harvest. Partly for this reason, he views the vintage as “a bit too round and easy,” at least in comparison to 2016, but then Carillon has always preferred cooler, more classic years with high-pitched aromatics, brisk minerality and firm spine. While he had higher yields in his village parcels in 2017 than in 2016, he made a reasonable 48 to 50 hectoliters per hectare in most of his premier crus as hot weather during the flowering resulted in coulure and smaller grapes. He harvested with potential alcohol typically in the 12.5% to 13% range, chaptalizing his less-ripe wines by about half a percent but more like 0.3 for those he brought in at 13%. In contrast to a few recent vintages here, the malolactic fermentations went fairly quickly and were mostly finished two to three months prior to my early-June visit.