Domaine Lamy-Pillot

Why we follow Domaine Lamy-Pillot

The estate

The Lamy of the name is René Lamy, brother of Hubert Lamy in Saint-Aubin. The Pillot half is no relation to the other Chassagne Pillots — a coincidence of surnames that has been confusing buyers for decades. René built the estate while working for the Duc de Magenta, leaving in 1973 to concentrate on it entirely. It now passes through the female line: the domaine is run by sons-in-law Sébastien Caillat and Daniel Cadot-Lamy, with Sébastien and his wife Florence responsible for production. They have deliberately shrunk it. Holdings came down from twenty-one hectares to a more manageable fifteen, farmed mostly organically apart from conventional treatment around the sensitive period of flowering.

The vineyards

The centre of gravity is Chassagne-Montrachet, in both colours. Morgeot supplies premier cru white and red, and the domaine holds a substantial block of Champ de Morgeot — three and a half hectares sitting just below the premier cru boundary, and properly red-wine ground. Le Pot Bois gives a village white with more definition than the straight Chassagne blend. Across the hill in Saint-Aubin, Le Charmois is the premier cru to know.

In the glass

The whites are sound and conventional, which is not the criticism it sounds like. The point of comparison is the more experimental Domaine Lamy-Caillat that Sébastien runs on his own account; here the aim is Chassagne as Chassagne has always tasted. The reds are the sleeper. Grapes are destemmed, then given a month in the vats with punching-down twice a day for the first ten days. It makes solid, hefty Pinot that needs time in bottle and gains elegance as it goes, and the domaine has an avid private clientele for them in France. Sébastien has begun experimenting with whole-bunch fermentation. Jasper Morris points to a 2007 Chassagne Clos St-Jean rouge, tasted at the domaine in 2019, as the evidence for how well these age.

With Lamont’s

Offered through Lamont’s Allocation Program, generally following the August release. Register your interest and we will contact you when the next allocation is confirmed.

The 2024 vintage has arrived across six cuvées, four white and two red. Quantities are small. Register your interest and we will contact you ahead of the next release.