A teaching moment: Laurent Pillot discusses vine pests and bud development in his 0.37 hectare parcel of 1º Cru Grandes Ruchottes. Laurent produces wines from 22 appellations in 7 villages (Chassagne-Montrechet, Puligny-Montrechet, Beane, Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Santenay), a whopping 54 separate parcels, covering a mere 15 hectares. According to Laurent, the Premier Cru Grandes Ruchottes was once considered for Grand Cru status, and has a terroir comparable to Le Montrachet. He considers it, in his understated manner, "one of the best 1º Cru" of Chassagne. We tasted through his delicious range last week and were stunned by the precision of the wines. The 2005 Pommard 1º Cru Les Charmots he brought to dinner at the Auberge du Vieux Vigneron in Corpeau showed the quality of this vintage and the age-worthy quality of his wines - something I've been fortunate to have experienced many times now, tasting as far back as the spectacular 1993 Chassagne-Montrachet 1º Cru Vide-Bourse (blanc), tasted in November 2008.
