Domaine Joseph Voillot

Domaine Joseph Voillot is a family domaine in Volnay, a small wine village a few kilometres from Beaune, and six generations of the family have cultivated its vines. By 2006 Jean-Pierre Charlot, son-in-law of the late Joseph Voillot, was cultivating the domaine's vines in Pommard and Volnay. Investors' representatives called almost weekly to ask about the domaine and its vineyards, and there was much speculation about a succession or even a sale. In November 2015 Charlot announced that a member of the family wanted to take on the domaine. That successor was his nephew, Etienne Chaix, who was due to start full-time at the domaine in April 2016, a move that let Charlot concentrate on the vines. Etienne Chaix now manages the domaine.

• Family domaine in Volnay, cultivated by six generations of the family
• By 2006 Jean-Pierre Charlot, Joseph Voillot's son-in-law, was cultivating the domaine's vines in Pommard and Volnay
• November 2015: Charlot announced a family member would take on the domaine, ending speculation about a succession or sale
• Etienne Chaix, Charlot's nephew, was due to start full-time in April 2016

As of October 2025, Etienne Chaix leads the domaine and receives critics in Volnay to taste its new vintages, as he did in November 2018, October 2020, November 2024 and October 2025. Jean-Pierre Charlot hosted such tastings from February 2014 to November 2017. The parcels are harvested exclusively by hand by a team of around 60 people, mainly the Voillot family and their friends.

• Etienne Chaix: manages the domaine (as of October 2025)
• Jean-Pierre Charlot: son-in-law of Joseph Voillot; hosted the domaine's critic tastings from 2014 to 2017
• Harvest team: around 60 people, mainly the Voillot family and their friends

The domaine's 8 hectares lie in four communes. In Volnay it makes three Premier Crus and a village Vieilles Vignes. Les Champans comes from lower-slope, shallow stony soil of Oxfordian limestone, with vines planted in 1934, 1971 and 1985; the domaine's plot there covers 1.07 hectares at the northern top corner of the vineyard, across the small road from Carelle sous la Chapelle. Les Caillerets comes from the Caillerets Dessus terroir, planted in 1984, and Les Frémiets from vines planted in 1932, 1950 and 1978. The Volnay Vieilles Vignes blends five terroirs: Poisots, Gigottes, Serpents, Pasquiers and Lurets. In Pommard the domaine makes four Premier Crus: Clos Micault (planted 1958, on Jurassic limestone and white marl), Les Pézerolles (planted 1963), Les Epenots (from the Petits Epenots terroir, planted 1961) and Les Rugiens (from the Rugiens bas terroir, planted 1959). A Pommard Vieilles Vignes blends the Cras, Poisots, Saussiles and Vaumuriens terroirs. In Beaune it makes one Premier Cru, Aux Coucherias, from an upper-slope site of reddish brown limestone planted in 1964 and 1981. The two whites are Chardonnay from Meursault: the Premier Cru Les Cras (planted 1963 and 1980) and the village Meursault Les Chevalières (planted 1979). A Bourgogne Pinot Noir Vieilles Vignes blends the Longs Bois and Grandes terres terroirs.

• Volnay Premier Crus: Les Champans (1.07 ha plot), Les Caillerets (Caillerets Dessus) and Les Frémiets, plus a Volnay Vieilles Vignes from five terroirs
• Pommard Premier Crus: Clos Micault, Les Pézerolles, Les Epenots (Petits Epenots) and Les Rugiens (Rugiens bas), plus a Pommard Vieilles Vignes from four terroirs
• Beaune Premier Cru Aux Coucherias, upper slope, planted 1964 and 1981
• Meursault: Premier Cru Les Cras and village Les Chevalières, both Chardonnay

Reasoned agriculture governs every intervention in the vines, and the farm has held High Environmental Value (HVE) certification since 2017. Natural plant cover is allowed to grow in the vineyards over winter, and the soil surface is worked several times each summer to control weeds. Grapes are sorted first in the vineyard and, when necessary, a second time on a vibrating table at the winery. Red wines are made in the traditional manner: after total destemming, the harvest macerates in vats for 14 to 18 days on average. White grapes are pressed whole and, after moderate pressing, ferment in vats. Every fermentation runs on the wild yeast particular to each parcel, and the domaine uses 10 to 15% new barrels for maturing its wines. In the 2019 vintage the Volnay Vieilles Vignes had one new barrel, 5% of the total, the Beaune Aux Coucherias 20% new oak, and the Pommard Pézerolles and Rugiens 25% new barrels from the cooper Damy; the domaine's oak is always from the Vosges.

• Reasoned agriculture; HVE certified since 2017
• Winter plant cover; summer soil work to control weeds
• Reds fully destemmed, 14 to 18 days maceration on average; whites pressed whole
• Wild-yeast fermentations; 10 to 15% new barrels

Several vintages have brought heavy crop losses. It lost 60% of a normal crop in 2012 and 45% in 2013, and the 2016 pruning was the first normal one after three years of hail. Frost in 2016 left 70 barrels against a normal 180, and no Clos Micault was made that year. The 2020 harvest began on 22 August, the earliest ever recorded in the Voillot family, after a heat wave in which about a third of the crop was lost. In 2021 three consecutive days of frost on 5, 6 and 7 April brought losses approaching 80% in Meursault and of at least 70% in Volnay Les Caillerets, and the Premier Cru volumes were the lowest ever recorded at the domaine.

• 2012 and 2013: 60% and 45% of a normal crop lost
• 2016: frost; 70 barrels against a normal 180, and no Clos Micault
• 2020: harvest from 22 August, the family's earliest on record
• 2021: April frost; Premier Cru volumes the lowest ever recorded at the domaine

The domaine presents its 13 appellations as produced with equal care in what it calls 'the purest Burgundian tradition with respect for our terroirs,' and it credits fermenting on each parcel's own wild yeast with ensuring that 'the identity of the terroir is faithfully reflected.' Its technical notes call the Volnay Champans and Caillerets 'fruity and powerful,' the Volnay Frémiets and Pommard Clos Micault 'fine and elegant,' and the Pommard Rugiens and Pézerolles 'fine and powerful.' Writing in Wine Spectator in June 2006, Bruce Sanderson called the wines 'wines of purity, full of fruit and silky textures and the structure to age well.'

• Wild yeast particular to each parcel for every fermentation
• Estate notes: Champans and Caillerets fruity and powerful; Rugiens and Pézerolles fine and powerful
• Wine Spectator (2006): purity, fruit, silky textures and the structure to age

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.joseph-voillot.com/en/, https://www.joseph-voillot.com/en/our-philosophy/, https://www.joseph-voillot.com/en/appellation-volnay/, https://www.joseph-voillot.com/en/appellation-pommard/, https://www.joseph-voillot.com/en/appellation-beaune/, https://www.joseph-voillot.com/en/appellation-meursault/, https://www.joseph-voillot.com/en/appellation-bourgogne/, https://www.joseph-voillot.com/fichiers/Millésime-2021-Anglais.pdf, https://www.joseph-voillot.com/fichiers/Millésime-2020-Anglais.pdf. Secondary sources: Bourgogne Wine Bureau producer page (https://www.bourgogne-wines.com/winegrowers-and-expertise/passionate-men-and-women/voillot-joseph-volnay-21190,2507,9363.html?args=Y29tcF9pZD0xNTAyJmFjdGlvbj12aWV3RmljaGUmaWQ9VklOQk9VMDAwMDIwMTEzNCZ8); Burgundy Report (Bill Nanson): https://www.burgundy-report.com/diary/2016/03/joseph-voillot-now-x2-hospices-de-beaune-echezeax-vv/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/11-2015/joseph-voillot-2014/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/02-2016/joseph-voillot-champans-vertical/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/02-2014/joseph-voillot-2012s/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/11-2017/joseph-voillot-2016/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/11-2018/joseph-voillot-2017/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/11-2020/joseph-voillot-2019/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/11-2024/joseph-voillot-2023/, https://www.burgundy-report.com/burgundy-report-extra/10-2025/joseph-voillot-2024/; Wine Spectator (Bruce Sanderson, 9 June 2006): https://www.winespectator.com/articles/a-tour-of-the-cote-de-beaune-14141. Last verified 2026-10-18. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.