On Style & Substance: Philippe Pacalet

Whenever I have the chance to taste wines from Philippe Pacalet (website), I learn something new. I love the aesthetic his wines carry.

I'd like to say that what speaks to me are the individual pieces of the puzzle, coming together before he founded his own label in 2001. (And damn fine pieces they are – he'd worked with Marcel Lapierre, at Château Rayas and Domaine Leroy, and also spent ten years as director at Domaine Prieuré-Roch.)

But that wouldn't be true; his wines carry their own style.

And that's what I want to talk about. I feel that the word "style" isn't one people like to hear in the context of fine wine, as it's often seen as something artificially imposed on the wine, something that can, in a way, obscure the crystalline purity of terroir.

I don't think that's true. Style is something every winemaker incorporates, at least subconsciously.

But first, briefly, about these 3 wines – all 2021 vintage – I tasted last month.

Gevrey-Chambertin represents the hedonistic and charming face of northern Burgundy, with immediate approachability of a villages. Ripe raspberries, wild strawberries, and cherries, complemented by cinnamon spice and musk. The palate is round, fleshy, and airy, with very fine, supple tannins. This wine lacks any austerity and drinks with tremendous ease, since its structure relies on juicy fruitiness.

The villages-level Pommard stands at the opposite pole, showing the earthier, more rustic character of the southern part. The aroma is noticeably darker – blueberries, blackberries, violets, damp earth, and iodine. It feels firmer and more closed, with more pronounced acidity and a more muscular tannic structure. With air, though, its initial wildness turns into pure energy that will delight lovers of traditional, firm Pinots.

The pinnacle of this trio was Pommard 1er Cru Les Charmots, which comes from a steep southwest-facing slope with a thin layer of clay- and iron-rich soil. This top-tier wine combines fruit intensity with deep minerality and nobility. The complex nose offers ripe dark cherries, plums, and dried flowers interwoven with an iron-like, stony undertone. Decidedly concentrated, yet the tannins here are very fine-grained, velvety, and sophisticated. The finish is exceptionally long, vibrant, and saline, making it the most complex wine in this trio, in keeping with its higher classification.

All this to say: 

It's not about distinguishing between a winemaker's style and terroir, but rather understanding the whole picture of each producer. What we perceive as a winemaker's distinctive "style" often didn't arise intentionally. It's a byproduct of the right decisions made in the vineyard and in the cellar.

One can see this quite clearly in Burgundy –  there are winemakers striving for a light, "transparent" style, as well as those embracing a more heavy-handed approach. But… in the end, whether it's a reductive, oaky, or transparent style, if that style merely imitates a fixed set of flavors and becomes an end in itself, without proper substance, then style will always speak louder than everything else.

Trends change, the discourse shifts, and one style replaces another. Yet wines with a unique perspective, an individual and authentic point of view, live on forever.

In this tasting, each wine spoke very clearly, showing its individual details distinctly, and yet over these wines hovered a certain "style" – one that wasn't calculated. As I write this, I realize it's better and less provocative to use the term "aesthetic."

In the case of Pacalet's wines, it's an impressionistic and hedonistic aesthetic. His goal isn't to create a technically perfect product, but to bring pure emotion, energy, and profound complexity into the glass. The result isn't a rigid, heavy wine, but rather an airy, vibrant, textural experience, where perfume, floral notes, and vertical minerality take the lead.

Pacalet doesn't own any vineyards — he leases specific parcelles and oversees their strictly organic cultivation. He defines himself as a "revealer of terroir." While classic great Burgundy wines need decades of cellar aging before they even open up, Pacalet's aesthetic bets on immediate drinkability and pleasure. He achieves complexity through perfumed elegance, tension, acidity, and airiness.

What a great reminder that, in the end, my greatest responsibility — to the wine, to my work, to the vineyards, and to my team — is to keep refining, questioning, and reinforcing what I value most in wine. By continuing to taste and to learn.

#creamofthecrop #pacalet #burgundy #learning