Background

Caillot’s wines age particularly well thanks to an unusually long ‘élevage’ at low temperatures, the first year in cask and the second in tank. His cellars are deep and cold, which prolongs fermentation, rarely finishing before the April after harvest, while the Malolactic might take another year to complete its work. Whole clusters and wild yeasts are the norm here; the wines are moved mainly by gravity and racked just once between fermentation and bottling with no filtration. The top 1er and Grand Crus see 50-70% new oak, the other wines 10-25%. The oak is carefully managed, it remains in the background supporting rather than masking the flavours of each vineyard. These are singular, expressive wines which show a different side to white Burgundy. They are full-flavoured, have ample texture, and good underlying acidity.  The 2012’s and 2013’s are drinking well now but will continue to develop. We recently opened a bottle of his 1996 Santenay Blanc, a marvellous, textured, wine that was drinking well at 22 years old. The newly released 2014s which we are beginning to ship emphasise the vintages finesse and minerality, they are brilliantly racy and concentrated.