Domaine Patrick Javillier Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 2020

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

About Domaine Patrick Javillier

Patrick Javillier and his daughter Marion are among the most respected and considered viticulteurs in the entire Cote d’Or.  This is an extremely fine address with superb wines in both colors.

The family story started in Meursault, after the war in 1945 when Raymond Javillier decided to cultivate 2 ha. of plots which had always belonged to the family.

The turning point for the estate was in 1974: Patrick received his diploma in wine studies (Diplôme National d’Oenologie) and his father handed over the estate with full responsibility for the harvest and wine making process.
Throughout the 1980s and early in the 1990s the estate never ceased to expand by the acquisition of new plots and the addition of land which belonged to the family of his wife, Catherine.

Patrick is one of the most reflective of white wine makers, the walls of his cellars and the sides of his barrels being covered in chalk where he has been developing one or another of his theories.

Patrick is a proponent of blending, believing, if you get it right 1 + 1 = 3. The proof is in the glass and he has put his wine where his mouth is!

All of his Bourgogne and most of his Village level wines are blends and mighty blends they are.

In 2005, Marion, the elder daughter of Patrick, joined the domain after studies in management and winegrowing with the responsibility for sales and the winemaking process of the red wines.

In 2011, Pierre-Emmanuel Lamy, the husband of Laurène (Marion’s sister) also joined the domain, in charge of the field work and winemaking process of the white wines.

“Admittedly, Meursault is now home to a host of over-achievers…but Javillier seems to me to be under−exposed and under−garlanded. And his pricing is not rapacious in view of how much flavour and structure he delivers.”

Jancis Robinson

In the Vineyard

For the vine to express its particular characteristics it needs to be well looked after and our principle is to practice the best adapted methods of cultivation respecting the environment.

Great care is taken in true tradition for the the field work: the vine is pruned according to the “Guyot simple” method, debudding is adapted to the yield potential of each vine and as the vegetation growth progresses we ensure the canes are properly tied and trimmed .

In the Winery

When the grapes are harvested at the set date they are sorted on picking.

The white grapes are despatched to the cellar and processed by a pneumatic press. The must is then settled and filled into casks for the alcoholic fermentation through the action of the natural yeasts and followed later by the malo-lactic fermentation.

The red grapes are entirely de-stemmed and filled into concrete vats; there follows a cold, pre-fermentation maceration, pumping over, punching and releasing all depending on the vine plot concerned and sampling of the grape juice.
Lightly pressed, the red wines are then filled into casks and closely monitored during the rest of the winemaking process.

The Javillier’s believe that long élévage on lees is vital and positive for the flavour and long evolution of their wines.

All the white wines are raised in oak casks, the number of new casks depending on the plot concerned; during the winemaking process the lees may be stirred according to the nature of the vintage. Most of the wines are taken out of barrel after a year, then matured further in tank on their fine lees. The Corton Charlemagne spends a second winter in wood. It would be difficult to find another winemaker with quite such a perfectionist attitude as Javillier, a man who approaches winemaking with the precision of a research scientist, yet is always ready to question his own success. The results are startling, more so given that he has only one tiny Premier Cru holding. Not only does he vinify parcel by parcel but also cask by cask before making the final assemblages.

The Javillier’s are perfectionists in both the vineyard and the cellar, a team that considers élévage with the exactitude and detail of a professor but still questions.

The Bourgogne Blancs are vinified as crus and have all the character of real Meursaults. The Clos from the upper slopes are steely and firm, while the beautifully balanced Tillets, Casse-têtes and Clos du Cromins have a delightful touch of honey. Javillier’s Narvaux wines derive part of their noble breeding from Perrières, their next-door neighbours.

Interestingly, the top wines such as the Corton-Charlemagne are fermented and matured entirely in one year old wood, with new barrels being used (25-30%) for the Meursault and Bourgogne vineyards on the lower slopes with more clay and less active limestone in the soil.

The 2020 Vintage at Domaine Patrick Javillier

From Burghound

Both Patrick Javillier and his son-in-law Pierre-Emmanuel Lamy were away from this 11 ha domaine at the time of my visit. Thus, it was Javillier’s daughter Marion who received me. Marion is responsible for the red wines and Lamy for the whites and the vineyard work, while Patrick remains ready to assist when and where necessary. She described 2020 as an “excellent vintage that gave us reasonable quantity and fine quality in both white and red.

We picked from the 17th to the 31st of August, which is the first time we have ever begun the harvest in August. Somewhat curiously, we began with the pinot and didn’t start with the chardonnay until the 25th. While the yields were variable, they generally were off between 5 and 20% compared to a typical year while potential alcohols centered right around 13%.

As to the wines, the really distinctive aspect is just how fresh they are. There is a vibrancy that makes them a pleasure to enjoy already as the first sip invites the second and so forth. 2020 is an exciting vintage and it should be very popular with our clients.” Some of the 2020 whites were bottled between November 2021 and February 2022. I have noted before but it’s worth repeating that Javillier and team rarely miss, and the 2020 whites are excellent across the board.

Where in the World is Domaine Patrick Javillier?

Javillier is based in Meursault. This family domain covers 11 hectares of the Côte de Beaune, in Regional appellations, with the brand new Bourgogne Côte d’Or, but also AOC Village, Premier Cru and Grand Cru.

Their whites come from the parcels located in the villages of Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Savigny-les-Beaune and Aloxe-Corton.
The reds from parcels in Savigny-les-Beaune, Aloxe-Corton and Pernand-Vergelesses.