Jean Marc Pillot

In the 1990s, Burgundy went through an uneven period when many red wines were made with too much new oak and extraction, and many white wines were made to taste good on release but without the classic staying power in the cellar.

But at some point, things really turned around. Great new producers emerged and lots of existing producers started making much better wines. In the “most improved” category, we put Jean-Marc Pillot at the every top.

Pillot is blessed with some of the finest vineyard sites in Chassagne Montrachet. But like most producers, years ago he used too much “battonage”. This added richness to the wine but has also been associated with premature oxidation. At some point, he had an epiphany: he stopped with the battonage and started to make wines in the “reductive” style associated with Jean-Marc Roulot. And it worked.

The consistency is incredible. They are rich and wonderful examples of Chardonnay, with a little more generosity than you get in Roulot’s wines. They have more chisel, more crystalline qualities, more terroir expression.