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| We are more than pleased to be able to bring you this first vertical tasting case, that means 4 different vintages of the same wine from the same winemaker. Here you have the opportunity to see what a difference a year can make - and you don't have to wait! We are presenting the 1999, 98, 97, and 96 vintages (3 bottles of each) for you to taste and judge for yourself. Maybe you are more of a young wine person - maybe you prefer wines with a little more time behind them. This is the perfect tasting case to find out - keeping as many variables unchanged as possible. Here we have the same grape variety (Chardonnay), the same field (Mercurey 1er Cru "Clos des Barraults", the same winery (Domaine Michel Juillot). Only the vintage changes, therefore the weather conditions of that year gave different characteristics to the wines. |
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You can also take a look at our selection of magnums (2 bottles in one or 1.5 liters) that we are now making available. These double bottles are great wines to drink with that special meal when you have a few friends over and/or make great holiday gifts. But there is another advantage with magnums - some wineries will run out of certain wines in regular bottles but have stock left in magnums for privileged clients (ex: Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru "Les Amoureuses" from Amiot Servelle is impossible to get in bottles but we have to magnums available.) You will also find a larger variety of vintages in the magnum selection. And don't forget, because magnums have the same size cork for double the amount of wine, magnums will age longer in good cellar conditions. A last word - as with all of Burgundy's quantities are limited. |
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 The Michel and Laurent Juillot Estate in Mercurey. |
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| Now some background on our vertical tasting case. The largest wine-producing area in the Côte Chalonnaise is that of Mercurey, approximately 1,500 acres. The vineyards surround the village and face either south or east/northeast. The soil composition makes Mercurey wines very similar to those of the Côte de Beaune. | ||
As for the Domaine Michel Juillot, their experience is amazing. Their family has been making wines since 1404, and Michel's grandfather (Laurent's great grandfather) was a master grafter of vines on a national level, something much needed after the phylloxera crises from 1878 to 1900. Phylloxera swept through Burgundy during that time and wiped out 90% of all vines. The solution was found in the grafting together of North American rootstock with European vines - the result is resistant to the phylloxera threat. As you can imagine, grafters were needed and respected. |
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Following is Laurent Juillot's view of the 1999 vintage:
The "view of the painter" is the expression which Michel Juillot uses to speak about an ideal wine. As if one had total control and could employ the perfect colors, the appropriate instruments, the dimension here and intensity there, to play with sunlight and raindrops. 1999 is the balance finally obtained after a delicate and difficult year. The vineyard owner, like the painter, doubted, but the result is there. Already, the red fruit perfumes dominate in rich wines with beautiful structure. The word vintage comes from the Latin "vendemia" which has three meanings (all of which were positive in the 99 vintage): 
Grape harvest: quantity and quality were present
Time of harvest: Juillot pickers started early before the rain at the end of September which could have damaged the harvest
Picking: manual harvesting Spring: We passed once again very close to catastrophe. During the early hours of April 17th, the thermometer dipped to -2°C, and we feared the worst. In the end, two areas were affected but without negative consequences for the harvest. The bud burst was early, flowering was spread out over about fifteen days, thus we had mixed-sized berries, particularly our Chardonnay. Phytosanitary Conditions: From mid-May a strong presence of mildew appeared in all the vines and had to be fought until mid-August. It is the result of a hot and wet climate. We had to treat against this disease a dozen times, that means 1/3 more than a normal year. Our strategies of treatments were preventative and curative. At certain times the mildew kept us extremely busy. Things started to get back to normal around mid-July and thanks to regular treatments we had very good phytosanitary conditions in the vineyards on September 15th. The harvest: The date was set for September 18th. The weather at the beginning of the month was hot, dry and very windy. We requested a special exception to harvest early and were able to start on the 15th. We were the first pickers on the Corton hill. We continued with the premier cru red and white in Mercurey and finished with the Mercurey village. The rain tried to disturb our work but there were no negative consequences on the grapes. Thanks to having thinned off the leaves at the beginning of August, the vintage was of an exceptional quality. In 47 years of harvest, my father had never seen that! The Master's words of the 1999 harvest are quality and quantity... The Quality of the 1999 Vintage Reds wines tasted in oak barrels had a very deep red color. The nose is very powerful with red fruit flavors. The taste confirms the nose with an acidity which is very present at the finish, and tanins are very ripe. We have wines already very harmonious from which we can expect a beautiful future. White wines have similar qualities to the reds. When we taste them it seems like we are biting directly into the grape and the fact that we stirred the less in the barrels intensifies this characteristic. |
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