Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Macherelles 2022

Jean-Marc Pillot is the fourth generation of his branch of the Pillot family to tend vineyards in Chassagne Montrachet. He joined his father, Jean, in 1985 to learn the craft of “vigneron”. After six years of working side-by-side, Jean-Marc assumed the direction of the domaine in 1991 with the assistance of his wife, Nadine, and his sister, Beatrice. Of course, his father, Jean, remains by his side rendering advice and valuable assistance in the vineyards (often while he is tending the garden in back of the chai!). Jean-Marc has instituted several changes at the estate, the most prominent of which is the construction of a new cave. Of equal importance, Jean-Marc expanded the amount of vineyards under cultivation and has made subtle modifications in vinification and elevage to place his own “mark” on this estate which now covers approximately fifteen hectares with an annual production of, more or less, 60,000 bottles.

Les Macherelles sits just to the south of the premier cru Les Chenevottes in the northern sector of Chassagne-Montrachet, immediately north of the village itself. Pillot’s 0.28 hectares of vines here were planted in the early 1950s, with a portion replanted in 1988, and this cuvée presents a remarkably stony nose, with focused, lean, strikingly refined flavors of lime zest and sea salt.