February 26, 2019

Name me one other grower on the Côte who has done this. Just one…

He’s an old soul, Jean-Pierre Charlot of Domaine Joseph Voillot, one quite committed and modest. Elegant in argument and clear in vision, he has no truck with tra-la-la. He cares deeply about Burgundy’s traditions and the structure of the family domain, and the cultural and artistic diversity that such things inspire. This goes a long ways toward explaining why this deeply pragmatic man won’t go for strict organics in what is a wet, northern climate. The first rule of a domain is to have a harvest—everything else flows from that imperative. It also goes a long way towards explaining why with the 2017 vintage he lowered his prices 8-12%. He did this after the 2018 harvest came in; two abundant years in a row, and time, as far as he was concerned, to swim against the tide of extravagance that has been carrying Burgundy for several decades now. He may well be the only one along the Côte to have cut prices with that vintage, and bless his heart for it. He did it because he would like ordinary people to be able to drink his wine.

This posting comes from our profile page on Domaine Joseph Voillot and its director Jean-Pierre Charlot.