Domaine Jean-Michel Guillon
Burgundy, France
The Greatness of Henri Jayer (and the lasting legacy of superb wines from JM Guillon)
Domaine Jean Michele Guillon – Power, Freshness and Faultless Fruit Richness.
The last Henri Jayer wine that I tasted was a 1983 Echezeaux opened a few years ago, and it was my best wine of that whole year!
Today that wine is worth at least $10K, and I can envisage these “new to Australia” Domaine JM Guillon wines ageing like that Jayer.
"He is fastidious in the pursuit of deeply concentrated, perfectly ripe berries, then careful in allowing them to express the terroir.” Len Choo (Heart & Soil) who visited the Guillon cellar last month.
Why were the Jayer wines so great and why should you pay attention these JM Guillon wines? Guillon started his domaine with 2.3ha in 1980, and later formed a friendship with Henri Jayer and was mentored by him for 20 years. He has made considered decisions to follow most of his regimen with great success in what is now a 15ha domaine across (mostly) Gevrey, Chambolle and Marsannay. Fourrier worked a “stage” with Jayer and he says that Henri and his wife Marcelle worked from 7AM to 7PM in the vines with dedicated passion. This is part of key to greatness.
Keys to Greatness of Jayer and Guillon. Jean-Michel Guillon was elected as Winemaker of the Year 2020 by the famous French wine guide book, Guide Hachette. Jayer learnt during his career that if the grapes were ripe and in perfect health, and were hand-picked from old or mature vines with low yields, then he could use 100% new oak to give a little more tannin and keep more freshness and purity with a greatly reduced risk of Brettanomyces or other spoilage microflora. If the wines showed a little oak in their youth it was ok, as it would integrate and disappear in a short while. He was a staunch 100% de-stemming advocate, and of course the oak he used had to be the very best. Nobody ever says “Oh that DRC, Dujac or Rousseau wine has too much oak”, and their best ones have 100%.
Guillon’s vines have an average age over 60yo (some are around 100yo) and his yields are very low, even in the regional and villages wines. 38hl/ha is quite high for him. - Old Vines - Low yields - Hand picking - Only 6-8 bunches per vine - All levels treated with the same dedication and methods - All grapes taken to the cellar quickly and triaged / sorted twice; once by hand and then by an “optical” sorting machine that rejects any green / over-ripe or diseased berries. - 100% de-stemming - Grapes cooled to 5C and cold-soaked for up to a week before a 3 week maceration / fermentation; long and slow. - Gentle pump-overs are employed - 100% new oak ageing for 14 or so months, but the oak is not heavily toasted nor “strong - Guillon buys his own trees and only uses two tonnelleries - All the oak is cut and stacked and aged in the weather for a minimum of 3 years before the barrels are crafted - For more details on the oak regime please see the bottom of the offer - Alexis Guillon has been working with his dad for a number of years now and after his wine studies, worked in Beaujolais, Languedoc and a little closer to home in Chambolle.
More on the oak regimen (for winemakers and pinot nerds – like us!) See the end of the offer.
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