A visit to domaine F&L Pillot is always a warm experience. We arrived chez Pillot at 6 pm, the Thursday before the Hospices, and had a very generous tasting with Laurent Pillot. You arrive at his home, which is at the SW end of the town, just uphill from the 1er Cru vineyard "Les Champ-Gains", and he welcomes you into his newly refab'ed tasting cellar. This was my second visit and his generous hospitality is uncommon among winemakers. We must have tasted 12 different wines over the course of our TWO hour visit.' Our thanks to Laurent

Laurent poured nearly his entire range for us, and we were blush with gratitude (and wine). Of particular note in the whites was his broad and rich '04 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru "Les Morgeots", and his powerful yet more classic '05 Chassange-Montrachet 1er Cru "Vide Bourse". Delicious. But the surprise of the tasting was his '04 Meursault 1er Cru "Les Caillerets". Very different from his Puligny and Chassagnes, as it should be, and a delightful exercise in terroir. One of my favorites of the tasting. (As a side note his villages '05 Puligny-Montrachet is a great value for the money. Buy some.)

In his reds, his Pommards are the stars here. Stylistically speaking, I find Laurent's reds lean more towards a modern style, with soft tannins and rounder fruit flavors, but there's plenty of structure to support their "drink me now" personalities. The best wine is his 1er Cru "Rugiens", with it's great balance and super structure, this one is for the cellar. My purchase, however was the 1er Cru "Charmots". A slightly more delicate style that is more nose than mouth feel. I'm a sucker for a beautiful nose.