The Domaine François Carillon may have only been around since 2010, yet the Carillon name is one that should be familiar to white Burgundy lovers. Before there was Domaine François Carillon, there was Louis Carillon, a well-established and beloved reference for white Burgundy Chardonnay's that rivalled the likes of Domaine Leflaive.

François Carillon has quickly demonstrated his prowess!

The Carillon family have been in the Puligny area since as early as 1520 (it's tough to get the accuracy right going that far back, and hence François himself prefers to date his family's domaine to 1611, a date that was carved into an engraved stone slab found in their cave), tracing the family's lineage to as far back as a Jehan Carillon who was settled in the area and took to wine growing. 14 generations later, it was Louis Carillon's turn to helm the family's 12 hectares of vines. Initially the land was simply used for livestock farming as a result of the devasting phylloxera that swept France, yet it was Louis who had brought viticulture back to the family's land. At the time, most of the family's parcel was in Puligny-Montrachet, with small parcels of Premier Crus and just the one tiny Grand Cru plot in Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet. Yet despite the lack of family endowed prized plots, Louis Carillon had nevertheless made a great name for himself producing white Chardonnays that demonstrated purity and austerity.

Carrying on the family name.

When Louis announced his retirement after the 2009 vintage, François was already more than ready to take over. François had already been working amongst the vines with his father since the 1988 vintage, and had not only gained deep experience and familiarity with the family's vines, but had developed his own stylistic sensibilities about what he had wanted to produce. In 2010, the family's estate was thus split equally between François and his brother Jacques.

"I put all that I am in my wine, without concession. I love life, I like people: I think my wines are less austere than my father's. I like refinement in simplicity, the scents of hawthorn and peach. I like the elegance of purity," 

François Carillon

François' policy has been very much a "vines first, wine later" one, where he believes that all the work that is to be done comes in the fields, whereas in the cellars, the wines take care of themselves. In the vineyards, François takes care to only plough the land using horse or tractor, with no artificial chemicals used. All tasks to be done are by hand, including compost production, which has come by way of recycling vine shoots instead of burning them as it the Burgundy practice. Vine density has also been increased to 10,000 vines per hectare, so as to raise the intensity of the fruit's flavours, and to better reflect the Puligny terroir. All pruning is to be done manually, with yields controlled via green harvests, and of course the final harvest is also done by hand each year.

Since taking over, François has grown his pieces of the family's vineyards from 6.5 hectares to now 16 hectares. He produces across 16 different appellations that range across the heavily prized communes of Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet and Saint-Aubin.

In the cellars, François tries his best to minimally intervene with the wines. Work starts with getting the fruit into the press as fresh as possible, after which the fruit undergoes a soft pressuring, allowing the juices to naturally settle. Ageing is fairly traditional, with about 12 months in French oak barrels (of which only about 10% is new oak), maturing on the lees, with some occasional batonnage (stirring). It is then transferred to stainless steel vats for six months before bottling.

Today we get to try François Carillon's Puligny Montrachet White from the 2021 vintage!

Let's go!

Wine Review: 2021 Francois Carillon Puligny Montrachet White Burgundy Wine

Tasting Notes

Colour: Light Tint

Aroma: Incredibly richness here, already sensing the density here, It opens up with a deep and aromatic earthiness, along with some farmyard funkiness, hay, and freshly toiled soil. Some very light green fruits at the base, perhaps some gooseberry jams that also takes on that richness.

Taste: It's sharper here and much more precise. A really good concentration of those richer notes of gooseberry jams. Really well-defined and distinct, honed in on just that one note. Great richness as well, without giving off any musk or high toned acetone qualities.

Finish: More on starfruits here, with alittle more of that muskiness coming through. That intense and concentrated richness persists!

My Thoughts 

I'm a big fan of the richness on this! It's concentrated and powerful, holding its own without any rush to push out of the glass, really firm and well defined as well. It's got great precision and intensity on the palate, really zeroing in on just that one particular flavour without budging. It's structured as well, without getting all over, really holding its form, with not so much acidity, muskiness or that typical high toned brightness. Really lovely Chardonnay from François! 

Kanpai!

@111hotpot