Violot-Guillemard: one to watch

Violot-Guillemard is a domaine to watch. These wines are a clear demonstration of the elegance – and quality –  that Pommard can produce. As the Wine Advocate‘s William Kelley put it on his most recent visit to the domaine, these are “wines with aromatic profiles more reminiscent of the Côte de Nuits’ finest addresses …. this domaine continues its ascent.”

This small domaine of just eight hectares has been farmed on organic lines since 1999. In the winery, the focus is on elegance, with minimal extraction during vinification. The grapes undergo a short cold soak before vinification in wooden fermentors and maturation in 50 per cent new oak. Joannes Violot-Guillemard has recently taken over here from his parents, Thierry and Estelle. He has continued their approach for the most part, but has slightly increased the proportion of stems in vinification and has brought forward bottling – both of which give added freshness.

The 2018 vintage was a hot, dry year that required picking at the just the right moment and attention to detail in the winery. Growers who did well made ‘potential superstars’, as Jasper Morris puts it, with a long life ahead of them.

We are very excited about this domaine. It deserves to become better known – and secrets do not stay hidden for long in Burgundy these days.

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