Domaine Patrick Javillier
Prices:
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Patrick chose to begin early around 26 September in order to pick while the grapes were still healthy, the relatively high acidity encouraged him to stir the lees a little more than usual and the wines were racked into tank just before the new harvest, apart from the Corton-Charlemagne which is back in barrel.
Bottle
£25.00
Patrick Javillier has crafted a superbly balanced Meursault for our own-label range in 2015, using grapes from the top, middle and bottom of the hillside. This delicious white Burgundy displays a classy, fresh-fruit nose, with beautifully rounded fruit on the palate, with ripe yet fresh yellow-plum notes. This is a very classical Meursault, with a pure long finish.
Bottle
£35.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl188cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
A lovely pale primrose, this has an exuberant, classy nose, floral but with weight. No new wood was used. Lively fruit, some orange blossom and nectarine, with good wood behind, fills out the palate, and the acidity is in check. A medium-term Meursault on excellent form. Drink now to 2020.
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Fergus Stewart, Private Account Manager
The fruit of this exceptional Corton is tightly wound on the palate but has too much flesh to be called lean. With some gun flint notes, a touch of spice, excellent body and length, it should develop really well. All is in proportion here. Bravo!
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director
Patrick began the harvest on 23rd August, evidently an exceptionally early date, but he notes that the wines taste as if picked a month later. They are very expressive of terroir differences, as exemplified by the contrasting Clos du Cromin and Tillets cuvées. There are few growers as skilled in the cellar as Patrick is, and it shows in the quality of this fine range of 2011s.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Director
The 2010s here come in various slightly different styles according to the picking date. Bourgogne Oligocene was picked early, most of the Meursaults the following week while Tte de Murger came in last with extra ripeness in the grapes. Plans are taking place for the future though Patrick has no intention of retiring yet. One daughter, Marion, has been working with him for several years and he has now been joined by son-in-law Pierre-Emmanuel Lamy (no relation to Olivier).
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
The Javilliers have been involved in the wine business for generations as courtiers. When Patrick started out in 1974 this was the main source of his income, alongside which he worked three hectares of vineyards. In 1990 he was able to give up being a courtier as the domaine was by then large enough and well enough established. There are some red vineyards though his wife’s family, but the core of the domaine is white.
Patrick Javillier is now one of Meursault's best growers. An electrical engineer by training, he later studied oenology in Dijon before taking over his father's small Meursault estate. He gradually expanded the vineyard holdings to over 9 hectares and has been estate bottling his wines since 1990.
Patrick is one of the most reflective of white wine makers, the walls of his cellars and the sides of his barrels being covered in chalk where he has been developing one or another of his theories. He is absolutely persuaded that long élévage on the lees is essential for the future development of the wine in bottle, so he uses a Vaslin press for his whites because it keeps more of the solids than a pneumatic press. Most of the wines are taken out of barrel after a year, then matured further in tank on their fine lees. The Corton Charlemagne spends a second winter in wood. It would be difficult to find another winemaker with quite such a perfectionist attitude as Javillier, a man who approaches winemaking with the precision of a research scientist, yet is always ready to question his own success. The results are startling, more so given that he has only one tiny Premier Cru holding. Not only does he vinify parcel by parcel but also cask by cask before making the final assemblages.
The Bourgogne Blancs are vinified as crus and have all the character of real Meursaults. The Clos from the upper slopes are steely and firm, while the beautifully balanced Tillets, Casse-têtes and Clos du Cromins have a delightful touch of honey. Javillier's Narvaux wines derive part of their noble breeding from Perrières, their next-door neighbours.
Interestingly, the top wines such as the Corton-Charlemagne are fermented and matured entirely in one year old wood, with new barrels being used (25-30%) for the Meursault and Bourgogne vineyards on the lower slopes with more clay and less active limestone in the soil. Patrick favours Damy as a cooper with a selection of wood from the Allier, Vosges and Nevers forests to provide a balance of styles.
Patrick Javillier also makes Berrys' Meursault from purchased grapes under the name of Guyot-Javillier.
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director and author of the award-winning Inside Burgundy comprehensive handbook.