Domaine Jacques-Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 2019

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

This village wine is of outstanding quality; from 11 different parcels in 7 lieux-dits scattered about Puligny with an overall average vine age of approximately 40+ years.

About Domaine-Jacques Carillon

The Carillon family domain has a surface of 11ha, through ‘Louis Carillon and Sons’, created in 1981. At present Jacques and François Carillon are the joint managers. The domaine ‘Francois-Carillon’ is the legacy of the Carillon family. Established in Puligny-Montrachet in the sixteenth century. The logo currently in use was found on an engraved stone in 1632 in a cave of the village.

After completing his studies at the winemaking school in Beaune, France, Jacques Carillon joined his father in the family vineyard in 1980. His specializations include winemaking and marketing.

In 2010, Jacques and his wife Sylvia founded the Jacques Carillon vineyard with 5.25 hectares of vines, primarily in the village of Puligny-Montrachet.

The wines of Carillon are regarded in the elite of the great white wines of Burgundy. Celebrated by critics and found on the map of prestigious restaurants around the world, Domaine Carillon produces white wines that are racy, elegant, fruity while embodying perfectly the terroir of Chardonnay.

In the Vineyard

Our vines are our “raw material”: our reputation in France and around the world depends on the care with which we treat them. The end result? A fine Burgundy white wine, vintage after vintage.

We practice integrated pest management, and only when necessary. We do not use any herbicides, and we cultivate our fields by hand. 

To produce a top-quality harvest, we keep our vines fairly short and meticulously prune their buds; every bud is split. We cut our vines fairly high, giving them a larger leaf surface and better photosynthesis. We also practice green harvesting if necessary.

Jacques & Sylvia Carillon

In the Winery

White Wines

Jacques presses his grapes pneumatically, and then allows the liquid to settle for 12-18 hours before putting it into barrels. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation take place in barrel. The wine is then aged on lees for one year. Only 15-20% new barrels in order to preserve our wine’s characteristic flavor.

The wine then undergoes its first racking in which it is transferred into vats, where it ages for six months. After fining and light filtration, the wine is bottled.

Red Wines

Depending on the year, the fruit is completely or partially destemmed, then cold pre-maceration for 3-4 days. The wine then spends 12-15 days in our vats before undergoing pigeage et remontage: submerging the floating grape skins in the liquid wine, then draining the wine from the bottom of the vat and pumping it to the top.

The wine is then transferred from the vats and it ages in oak barrels on lees for one year. Jacques uses 15% new barrels for the reds. The wine undergoes its first racking in which it is transferred into vats, where it ages for 6 months. After fining and light filtering, the wine is bottled.

The 2019 Vintage at Domaine Jacques-Carillon

Jacques Carillon (brother of François – see above) runs this 5.2 ha domaine. He briefly described 2019 as “a vintage of heat and drought because the usually wet winter we expect in Burgundy was really dry. This means we began the growing season with a water deficit, and it was exacerbated by the summer heat. We also suffered some early April frost damage, and a relatively difficult flowering, so yields were not great. This is to say we were off between 50 and 60% in our 1ers, which equates to an average yield of about 25 hl/ha. We initially thought that we would pick on the 20th of September and around the beginning of September we moved it up to the 15th, but the heat was so intense that ultimately, we started on the 10th. Ironically, in retrospect I think we should have started two days earlier but that’s clear only in hindsight. On the plus side, the fruit was exceptionally clean with potential alcohols that averaged right at 14%. As to the style of the wines, I think 2019 will most please those who enjoy very rich white burgundies. While it’s not an exact match, 2019 reminds me somewhat of 2005.” I have pointed this out before but it’s worth emphasizing again that Carillon has raised his free SO2 level to <50 milligrams in the hopes of preventing, or at least ameliorating, the problem of premature oxidation. However, levels this high can usually be detected in the wines for the first two years or so after bottling. Thus, if you want to try any of the Carillon wines young, I would strongly advise decanting them.

Allen Meadows, Burghound

Where in the World is Domaine Jacques-Carillon

Domaine Jacques-Carillon is located in the commune of Puligny-Montrachet in the southern end of the Côte de Beaune.