Tasted in Chablis with Thomas Labille, 16 January 2023.
Domaine du Chardonnay
Moulin du Pâtis
89800 Chablis
Tel: +33 3 86 42 48 03
www.domaine-du-chardonnay.fr
More reports with Domaine du Chardonnay
Thomas on 2022:
“It’s looking good – the volume and the quality. Some of the sugars are not yet done, though most of the malos are! We don’t have bottles yet – hence, even some of the 21s are not yet bottled. We weren’t touched by the frost in 22 – there are years with volume and others without…”
Thomas on 2021:
“For us it was about half a harvest in our Petit Chablis and a bit more in the other areas. It helped that we were late pruning in some places – so it was still a bit more than half a harvest – which was still much less than in 2016. We had a lot of malic acid and I blocked some malos a little so that I didn’t lose too much acidity.”
The wines…
A very good range of 21s. I often find the Petit Chablis great – plus nearly one other – so it was this year too!
A mix of already bottled and tank samples – described in the text:
Vines in Beines, Prehy and the plateau behind the Grand Crus – 8 months in stainless steel and a little enamel for elevage – ‘We have a big 9-hectare parcel, so we are looking for something easy to drink.’
Plenty of colour. Ripeness of fruit – almost a touch of apple to this ripe citrus. Supple, silky, growing in intensity and energy – starting generously and finishing in a whirl. That’s ultra delicious wine – fine textured – a little sweet – but who cares – yes!
2021 Chablis
Here’s a wine where the malo was stopped early to ‘keep more freshness.’
Here’s more width and certainly a fresher style – a hint mineral this one. Faint gas – less rich but still supple, involving, layered wine – with plenty of energy. Holding more weight of finishing flavour and for longer too.
2021 Chablis Paradis
Vines in Chichée. From tank – not fined or filtered.
A much larger, broader nose of freshness a hint of herb too – less sweet. A more sweet-sour acidity – juicy – very mouth-watering. The finish direct, more compact today but still long and fading. That’s a delicious wine – I prefer the attributes of this to the last.
2021 Chablis 1er Vaugiraut
New here. 600-l barrels as some of the previous. 70% barrel elevage.
Plenty of colour – like all. Hmm – that’s plenty of power to this nose – some seashore too. Riper citrus but energy – and complexity here. Again a hint of sweetness to these flavours – the finish is more vibrant and well-judged – it’s really delicious here.
2021 Chablis 1er Les Lys
This and the previous are bottled because the volume was quite low.
A more airy and open freshness – nice, more complex with a hint of citrus skin too. Direct, cool, growing wider with intensity – a hint of phenolic texture frames the silk. I love the shape of this.
2021 Chablis 1er Vosgros
Just under 1 ha a mix of 2 parcels, one steep and south-facing, plus another small parcel in Vaugiraud. Vine ages between 5-30. ‘Like a Roman amphitheatre.’ Like the others with stainless-steel elevage but here there’s also about 10% barrel.
A powerful and exciting aroma of agrume and mineral – top! Supple, mouth-filling, slowly developing and widening its range of flavours. Really broad and slowly fading – harder to compare as these wines are warmer from tank than the previous from bottle.
From Epinottes and Roncières and a tiny part of Lys – the latter a relatively small 0.16 ha from a total of 1 ha. Here a little longer elevage again.
Less volume – more focus and intensity – that’s even better! More vibrant, similarly complex – more orange in this agrume – that’s potentially a great Vaillons!
2021 Chablis 1er Montmains
3 sectors, but all Montmains, 3.85 hectares.
Similar in width with a hint more density to the aromas – extra gas – so of course it’s energetic. Behind this gas is some silky texture and a fine and complex palette of flavour. Delicious and very good – extra scale in this finish too – no, it’s excellent!
2021 Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
0.69 hectares. Small parcels so one of the smallest cuvées here – Some barrel elevage but older barrels than for the Vosgros.
A more silky, seamless nose but less exciting for that. More incisive – finely shaped. Flavour that melts over the palate too. The finish is far from the largest but one that sustains beautifully – that’s a very lovely wine!