Bernard Moreau, Caroline Morey, Fernand & Laurent Pillot, Paul Pillot
There are over thirty noteworthy individual producers from within this large and complex community. Chassagne is still a significant producer of red wine, though little is exported. With a large range of terroirs and a great range of producers, it can be a maze, making it difficult to see from whom to buy. That's where Uncorked comes in. We're spending more and more time in this fascinating commune and have made changes in our producers over the last couple of years in line with developments in the village.
Alex and Benoit at Bernard Moreau make a fine team with shed loads of home and international experience to draw on. Their wines are infused with the best qualities of 2010: they take that raciness and use it as a foil to the natural richness of their vineyards. The wines impress with their texture and balance, as well as that amazing fruit and herb profile of which the commune is capable.
Caroline Morey is (only in a wine context!) managed in conjunction with her husband - the same picking team on the same schedule as just one example - and is shown to us by Pierre-Yves himself, despite his recovering from cruciate ligament surgery. These wines are pure, fresh, zesty and have real depth; in short they are crowd pleasers.
Unusually for a Chassagnais, Laurent, of Fernand et Laurent Pillot, married outside the village - une Pommardaise in fact. Locals joke that inhabitants of Chassagne seldom cross the N6 for anything. The greater Pillots are one of those labyrinthine Burgundian families that can be so hard to keep track of, but this branch, like the next, are from the quality side of the tree.
We first visited Domaine Paul Pillot just last October to find the most engaging Thierry as our host. One of a select bunch of thoughtful and articulate vignerons, he and sister Chrystelle have strong views on how to run a vineyard and plough to force deep roots and good soil, and eschew the use of weedkiller and insecticide sprays. In the cellar, winemaking incorporates the best of classic techniques and the wines have energy and satin-like texture like few others and, in 2010, an almost Puligny raciness. It was one of the most extraordinary appointments of the week. /CW
Tomorrow
Cote Chalonnaise
Thursday 26 January
2010 Burgundy barrel sample tasting 12-8pm, £25 per person inc VAT (redeemable against 2010 Burgundy en primeur purchases over £500)
