2020 Domaine Coillot La Charme aux Pretres Marsannay Burgundy 750 ml

It has accurately been said that trying to master Burgundy is like attempting to get to the center of a Russian nesting doll.

Inside every shell there’s another—and another. For every discovery, every lieu-dit painstakingly mapped or producer list committed to memory, a layer of complexity awaits beneath. Only by going beyond the surface and venturing into these depths will you come across extraordinary finds like the 2020 Domaine Coillot La Charme aux Prêtres. 

Marsannay, the northernmost AOC in the Côte de Nuits, has no Premier or Grand Cru vineyards. Yet. That means the finest terroirs are identified by lieu-dit alone. Vinous has called the source of this wine “one of the best vineyards in Marsannay,” and it will surely get its official due in time.  

This is a value that hails from a tiny, hidden-gem estate whose small production and family-farm methods all but guarantee that very little wine from Domaine Coillot makes it out of France.

We tracked down Christophe Coillot, the estate’s second-generation winemaker, and discovered a man with a dazzling wealth of knowledge about his part of Burgundy—one of the few who understands the nesting doll all the way down.

As one of the premier interpreters of Marsannay, Christophe is ascending to the status of names such as Sylvain Pataille, Philippe Roty, and Bruno Clair on the strength of bottlings like La Charme aux Prêtres. 

The word “charme” in the vineyard’s name, more commonly rendered as “chaume,” is a Burgundy term that indicates a place with very difficult growing conditions—rugged to the point that few vines can be planted. But Coillot has cracked the code, and has made a wine that deftly showcases this exceptional vintage.