Domaine Thierry Violot-Guillemard Pommard 1er ‘Les Rugiens’ 2018

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Want to deep dive into the Village of Pommard? Check the Wine Bites Mag article “Getting Your Head Around Burgundy Part 6 – The Reds of Pommard from the Côte de Beaune”

About Thierry Violot-Guillemard

Importer, Euan’s story of discovering this 5th generation Domaine is one of Serendipity. After too many stays in bland hotels visiting Burgundy a local suggested staying at Thierry and Estelle’s B&B. Eventually, the question was raised “When are you going to try our wines?” Well Euan’s reaction was the same as mine after my first taste a set of 2016 & 2017 Premier Crus: Rugien, Epenots, Platiere, Derriere Clos St Jean … How much can I have? The wines are delicious. Divine perfumes and stunning tannin’s that are fine, plush and beautifully played. Great harmony across the full set of wines. Vineyards back to 1936.

These wines are a revelation!

There is often a misconception that wines from Pommard are brutish, structured and will need decades to even be approachable. Like most things in life, mass generalisation does no one any favours. Thierry’s wines drink beautifully as a young Burgundy, as always the metamorphisis that occurs with great Burgundy requires patience.

I have been an admirer of Domaine Thierry Violot-Guillemard since I discovered their wines by chance as a student, and while this small six-hectare estate still flies under the radar, it’s only a matter of time until it becomes better known. Classical winemaking, sometimes incorporating a percentage of whole cluster, followed by long élevage, is the order of the day, Thierry Violot-Guillemard emphasizing that he makes his wines exactly as his father did. His son Joannes, who now takes an active role at the domaine, has refined some of the cooperage choices while happily remaining true to the house style. Readers who admire age-worthy, complex Côte de Beaune reds should beat a path to this address. 

William Kelley

If you have a splash of French have a swing at watching the 🎥 film below.

In the Vineyard

Thierry Violot was excited to announce that he had signed a lease for 1.6 ha of vineyards that will be effective with the 2021 vintage. The lease includes 1 ha of Pommard “Arvelets”, Volnay “Les Brouillards” in both villages and 1er plus a parcel of Chassagne “Blanchots-Dessus”. This addition will push the vines under cultivation to almost 8 ha.

Great wines can only come from the best grapes. This is why I take such great care in tilling my land. My vineyards have been under organic management since 1999.

As a proud successor of my ancestors’ heritage, I want to keep my terroir healthy so its quality can be appreciated in each of my wines.

The way I make my wine truly reflects my terroir: no yeasting, no reverse osmosis, not too many technical interventions, and not too much wood so as not to alter the taste of the wine.

I love the delicacy and the elegance, the ageing chardonnay, the distinctive pinot and above all, the fun!

Thierry

In the Winery

So … blah blah blah, grapes come in wine comes out blah blah blah. Hard to know really what’s going on from a technical perspective without having more of a chat with the crew in the winery. Two things are clear the philosophy is about restraint and expression of fruit and whatever is happening in the vineyard is working. Thierry is slowly transitioning responsibility to his son Joannes and we hear that a few things are shifting subtly. With fruit like this it will be fascinating to watch the evolution of the Domaine.

The 2018 Vintage at Thierry Violot-Guillemard

Thierry was upbeat about 2018, noting that “it’s an excellent vintage that gave us both quantity and quality. We picked from the 29th of August and the fruit was spotless with both good sugar and phenolic maturities. We had no fermentation problems and while the wines seemed atypically ripe at first, as the élevage progressed we could begin to see just how much potential they had.” Violot said that the 2018s were bottled between November 2019 and January 2020. As the ratings and commentaries confirm with only a few exceptions, Violot has again done a fine job in 2018.

Burghound

Where in the World is Thierry Violot-Guillemard?

Domaine Thierry Violot-Guillemard is based in Pommard holding incredible parcels of old vines. They have additional holding in Meursault, Monthelie, Beaune. In recent times parcels under lease have been added from Pommard, Chassagne-Montrachet and Volnay.