Burgundy is full of talented wine makers, but every now and then, a new name comes along almost out of the blue, with incredible flair – this is Kei Shiogai – a superstar in the making. Originally from Japan, Kei left Tokyo to travel to New Zealand as he was so interested in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. After a short spell there, he was strongly encouraged by locals to pursue his passion in the true home of these varieties – Burgundy – where studied viticulture and vinification in Beaune and Dijon.
Kei arrived in Burgundy and proceeded to work with several top producers including Philippe Pacalet, Domaine Rousseau and Domaine Roulot. Indeed, his earlier vintages in Beaune were produced while he was still working at Domaine Roulot. Even with his 2020 vintage, Kei started to turn heads and draw attention to his wines with their incredible elegance and purity of fruit produced from modest “village level” sites. But it is of course with fruit sourced from the more premium Grand Cru sites that Kei has really started to redefine his own stylistic talents. With limited stocks due to arrive in the UK shortly, it seemed the perfect moment to review his second Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru release.
Kei Shiogai Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2023, Burgundy
The 2023 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru from Kei Shiogai is another exceptional expression with incredible attention to detail, showing aromas of limestone minerality, white flowers, pear fruits, lemon grass, sweet herbs, and buttered white toast nuances. On the palate the wine is taut yet elegantly textured and densely layered with a notable chalky dry extract but also seamlessly creamy, harmonious, and balanced. A decidedly more serious terroir driven, linear, minerally infused expression of Corton-Charlemagne than some of the more buttery mainstream examples on the market. Undeniably profound and a real high point in Kei’s 2023 white range. Drink from 2025 to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 96-97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Kei Shiogai wine are available on allocation from his exclusive UK importer, Musigny Wines. Contact: Andrew@musigny.wine
Pierre Millemann grew up between Anjou and Alsace where his grandparents lived and where he spent all his holidays. His father and grandfather, both wine enthusiasts and connoisseurs, quickly started transmitting their passion to him. Pierre started studying in Paris. During his first internship, he met René Renou, an important figure in the wine industry, soon becoming his mentor. Fascinated by the development of the vine, Pierre understood very quickly that the concept of “terroir” was the key. This is why he went to work in the vineyards and cellars, first in Germany, and then at Chateau Carbonnieux in Pessac-Léognan, and finally at Champagne Charles Heidsieck.
He went back to university to perfect his knowledge, obtaining a Diploma in Oenology and then a National Diploma of Oenology from Dijon. Pierre continued to gain experience, occupying several winemaking positions around France, but it was in the Jura, where he worked as a cellar master, that he met his wife Stephanie, and the mother of his daughter, Charlotte.
Tasting with Charlotte Millemann
In 2003, thanks to their joint experiences and the very positive results obtained at the estates where they collaborated, Pierre and Stéphanie founded their own oenology consultancy. In constant search for new techniques, Pierre completed his training with a master’s degree in Oenology Research in Dijon, and then started training future oenologists at the University of Burgundy, as a part-time lecturer. The family now works together with the best estates in Burgundy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and the United States, and recently, Charlotte joined the family business and started training with her father.
After nearly two decades of consulting, Pierre started his own eponymous label in 2017, dedicated to making single barrels of the greatest Grand Cru Burgundies. While his portfolio has grown slowly over the years, his iconic Millemann signature wines represent not only incredible rarity but also encapsulate a unique set of winemaking skills that guarantees the utmost quality which is manifest in every single bottle of wine released. The choice of the parcels is made with the greatest of care from specially selected grapes, which Pierre has designed, defined and structured an oenological approach that is the most faithful to the terroir and his own biodynamic principles and winemaking vision.
Pierre Millemann Corton Renardes Grand Cru 2021, 13.5%
Lifted perfumed aromatics with hints of dried herbs, thyme, dried mint leaf and notes of red cherry, raspberry herbal tea and a stony limestone minerality. Incredible tension and frame, the structure is bold and linear with seamless mineral tannins with a warming, spicy undertone of cherry and cranberry purity. Incredible power, elegance and precision. A very substantial expression of Corton Grand Cru.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Pierre Millemann Latricieres-Chambertin Grand Cru 2021, 13% Abv.
This Grand Cru reveals a deep, dense, dark broody nose with a smoky allure and hints of sweet sappy sandalwood, red plum, red currant jelly and spicy red apple with a pronounced mineral limestone foundation. Beautifully tangy and rich fruited with a sweet and sour red plummy depth, incredible tension and focus with polished marble tannins and cool, fresh crystalline acids. Wonderful focus, power and intensity with a substantial depth and frame.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Pierre Millemann Clos de La Roche Grand Cru 2021, 14% Abv.
A beautifully expressive wine full of perfumed aromatics with hints of violets, rose petals, cherry, black currant and exotic hints of musk. The palate is super polished and seamless, with firm but velvety tannins, creamy black saline fruits and a laser-like precision. Deliciously stony, mineral and classical with a regal black fruited balance and finesse. A truly astonishing wine.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Pierre Millemann Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2021, 13% Abv.
A big wine that is now beautifully settled in bottle, exhibiting a dark broody expression with earthy notes of red and black plum, with brûléed hints of black currant compote, warm brown toast and raspberry nuances. Full bodied, there is big power and intensity on the palate with saline blue and black fruits, an energetic invigorating freshness, and a delicately earthy, savoury finish. Impressive concentration and intensity with the trademark Millemann seamless textural precision and focus.
(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Tasting in Nuits Saint Georges with Charlotte Millemann in November 2023.
Pierre Millemann Chambertin Grand Cru 2021, 13% Abv.
This Rolls Royce of a wine displays a delicate perfumed nose with subtle earthy hints, pressed violets, blood orange and pomegranate hints over a dusty crushed limestone mineral prominence. The palate shows notes of salinity and black currant earthiness, subtle leafy sappy spice complexity, silky fine-grained tannins and an elegant, sumptuous persistence. Delightfully earthy, intense but also very softly spoken. True class.
(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Pierre Millemann Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2021, 13.5% Abv.
A crystalline lemon-yellow colour leads you to a seductive aromatics of lemon oil, lime pith, lemon grass and a delicately smoky struck flint intensity underpinning a sleek, saline intense mouthfeel that shows a keen juxtaposition between minerality and piercing fruit concentration. The texture is silky, fresh and simply dreamy, seductive and incredibly alluring. Such brilliance, invigorating purity with true fine wine classicism.
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
(Wines tasted in November 2023 at Pierre Millemann Wines in Nuits Saint Georges and again in bottle in London on the 15th May 2024.)
The Pierre Millemann Wines are imported into the UK exclusively by Musigny.Wine
The spectacular wines of Jean-Yves Bizot represent the pinnacle of wine quality in a region graced with some of the most sought-after labels in the world of fine wine. Jean-Yves’s strict and uncompromising standards in the vineyards and his enviable old vine parcels in Vosne-Romanée combine to offer a stellar line-up of miniscule production red Burgundies built for ageing. Jean-Yves is a respected professor of viticulture and oenology in Beaune and lives in Vosne across the road from Henri Jayer’s old residence.
Sunrise in January 2024 over Gevrey-Chambertin.
Indeed, the two vignerons had neighbouring parcels in Vosne-Romanée and often discussed vinification techniques while working their vines. As a result, Jean-Yves decided to adapt some of Jayer’s techniques in his own cellar (in particular, whole cluster fermentation at cool temperatures in conical wooden vats) and is now making exceptional Vosne-Romanée wines that defy quality comparisons.
The epic new Corton Charlemagne 2022
Jean-Yves has undoubtedly forged his own unique winemaking path and today is recognized as producing some of the most iconic wines in Burgundy, following his own distinct and rigorous philosophy in the vineyards and in the cellar. Unsurprisingly, the wines of Domaine Bizot are now regarded as the pinnacle of Pinot Noir perfection and are coveted by the greatest Burgundy collectors and connoisseurs around the world, joining the ranks of other iconic names such as Domaine de la Romanée-Conti.
Tasting the Corton-Charlemagne 2022 from barrel with Jean-Yves in January 2024.
Jean-Yves Bizot recently made some exciting new purchases in Burgundy, including 0.14 hectares of prime Le Charlemagne Chardonnay vines as well as further north in the Côtes-de-Nuits, terroirs that he believes are still under-appreciated by the current generation but which were very well known and highly regarded centuries ago – both of his Côtes-de-Nuits vineyards are just south of Dijon: Bourgogne “Le Chapitre” and Marsannay “Clos du Roy”, both of which are old vine parcels. His range is completed by his magnificent Bourgogne Blanc that comes from an old parcel of sélection massale Chardonnay right next to Grand Cru Clos de Vougeot. Bizot’s wines are bottled by hand, barrel by barrel, without filtration, and are serious Burgundies for the patient connoisseur, emphasizing purity, subtlety, power and elegance.
Some Bizot vineyards next to his Vosne-Romanee winery.
Domaine Jean Yves Bizot Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2022
The two specific single vineyards of En Charlemagne and Le Charlemagne make up half of this famous appellation, while white grapes grown in seven other vineyards may also be sold as Corton-Charlemagne. As a result there can be a wide divergence in styles between earlier picked south-facing locations and cooler, later picked western slopes around Pernand-Vergelesses. Jean-Yves’s 0.14 hectares of vines are located in the prestigious Le Charlemagne vineyard and produce a meagre two new French oak barrels, or 600 bottles, of this golden Grand Cru nectar. A wonderfully sophisticated first showing of this wine reveals a rich vinous tapestry tightly packed with savoury aromatics of leesy yellow citrus, fresh rain on limestone, wet straw, baking herbs and glacé lemon rind. The concentration on the palate is astonishing – glycerol, piercing, fresh and beautifully crystalline and saline with intense layers of lemon and lime cordial, green apple pastille over an electric laser-like acidity with just a subtle kiss of lemon butter and vanilla pod spice on the finish. An astounding wine of incredible power, focus and precision, the likes of which you rarely see from Corton-Charlemagne. A wine that is sure to be legendary even before its official release.
(Wine Safari Score: 99-100/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The wines of Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot are imported and distributed exclusively in the UK by Wimbledon Wine Cellar. Contact: andrew@wimbledonwinecellar.com to enquire about available allocations and up coming new releases like the Corton-Charlemagne.
