Domaine Jacques-Carillon Puligny-Montrachet 2021

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 2020 Vintage at Domaine Jacques-Carillon

Jacques Carillon runs this 5.2 ha domaine. He briefly described 2020 as “one where a hot and dry growing season was helped immensely by a relatively wet winter so that during the summer, the vines didn’t really suffer all that much from hydric stress. I chose to begin picking on the 23rd of August and the fruit was essentially spotless with good sugar and acid levels. Yields were good at between 40 and 50 hl/ha with potential alcohols that were solid without being high at 13 to 13.5%. As to the style of 2020, to me it’s a classic vintage that is like a mix of 2017 and 2018.” 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

Jacques Carillon considers that his 2020s combine the merits of the 2018 and 2017 vintages, and they have certainly turned out very nicely, ranking as the estate’s finest wines since 2017. Harvest began in August 23, and the wines landed between 13% and 13.5% alcohol. As usual, Carillon pressed whole bunches, decanted, and fermented in barrels, the majority of which are supplied by Tonnellerie Mercurey (a pioneer of lighter toasts, adapted to riper vintages), along with cameos from Rémond, Séguin Moreau, François Frères, Atelier Centre France, Billon and Bouttes. After a year in barrel, the wines spend six months in tank before bottling. Its a recipe that hasn’t changed in a long time, in the cellars or in the vineyards, and the results are classic white Burgundies. While tasting the 2020s, I revisited the 2019s from bottle, which have turned out richer and fatter than I anticipated. Carillon’s wines are all bottled under natural cork.

William Kelley, The Wine Advocate

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.