Tasted in Chablis with Estelle Roy & Adrien, 23 January 2024.
La Chablisienne
8, Boulevard Pasteur
89800 Chablis
Tel: +33 3 86 42 89 89
www.chablisienne.fr
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More reports with La Chablisienne
Estelle on 2023:
“The 23 harvest went quite well but some of the time it was stressy due to the large volume – the heat before the harvest helped dry some of the mildew on the grapes and helped finish the maturity too – so it helped a lot. Volumes resembled those of 2018 in a few places but with a bit nicer aromas and more tension.”
Olivier and Estelle on 2022:
“The volume was ‘reasonable’ not too much not too little 😊”
The wines…
The grand crus were certainly a little backwards when tasted – but with so much potential! The range in general is as excellent as you (I!) have come to expect. Not many great wines but many, many excellent ones!
Since 2018 it’s all DIAM style seals here except the use of some Nomacorc occasionally for the Petit Chablis:
2022 Petit Chablis Pa Si Petit
Soft, floral and inviting, slowly a little saline too. In the mouth this has a nice structure, faintly strict in style. a lovely style!
2022 Petit Chablis Dame Nature AB
A lot more salinity is visible here, some florals too. Hmm, less strict, but there’s a silky minerality with a hint of fluidity. Long. Tasty wine!
2022 Chablis Le Finage
Multiple origins, of-course with a tank elevage like the previous Petit Chablis(s).
More direct, an acid-led citrus style to the core of this nose. A little more strict again – this with a few citrus bitters – zesty – juicy finishing – more volume too. Very good!
2022 Chablis Dame Nature AB
Organic vines, all tank elevage.
Here’s a calmer but wider, almost cushioned width of citrus aropma. Fuller, more enveloping flavour – some citrus intensity but hardly with bitters this time. Extra complexity for sure. More intense and saline finishing – impressive – that’s super.
Not yet bottled:
2022 Chablis La Serene
Start the bottling of this in another week – ‘it’s ready.’
A pretty, more overtly yellow citrus fruit nose. Supple, clean, fluid wine – I really like how this moves over the palate. Beautiful wine!
2022 Chablis Les Vénerables
A more structural impression from this nose – fine clarity. More scale and architecture to this wine, more strict than the Serene but clean, and with good intensity and a small finishing tannin – wait a couple of years for it – it’s excellent.
2022 Chablis 1er Beauroy
Beauroy and a little Troemes
An understated but still wide nose – it brings the impression of much complexity. Large scale, slightly cushioned at the limits. But broad and sweet/salt in the finish. That’s got a delicious finish – really super wine here!
2022 Chablis 1er Côte de Léchet
The biggest 1er cru cuvée of La Chablisienne. The only 1er that’s been bottled – ‘it was ready.’
A more vibrant and more vertical nose, some floral accents too. Finely growing intensity – width too. That’s the best finish so far – a crescendo of complex citrus and salinity- Super wine!
Back to tanks samples:
2022 Chablis 1er Vaillons
Not full-power but here is a width of beautiful Vaillons aroma – faintly floral as you may expect. Mouth-filling volume and a fine, almost bubbling energy – but with no obvious aid from CO2! A finish that sticks around – a tasty finish. Another Lovely wine.
2022 Chablis 1er Les Lys
Also a part of Vaillons – of-course. Only old wood here – 6 years or so.
A less formed nose with a slightly toasty impression – but becoming ever more pure with a fine yellow citrus. Supple but with some structure behind too. Here is depth and finishing concentration – potentially an excellent wine…
2022 Chablis 1er Montmains
Mainly Butteaux, a little (10%) Forêts and a little Montmains too! ‘Here is more clay, here comes more volume, it’s about the roots, not the sun!’
Hmm – that’s very lovely – such an aromatic invitation, slightly floral. Hmm, in the mouth too – I like the shape and minerality but that’s a really perfumed wine – more than I expect from Montmains. There’s some concentration in this finish. Lovely wine.
2022 Chablis 1er Fourchaume
Vaupulent and Côte de Fontenay
Hmm, not so deep but plenty of width – yellow citrus but not quite gold. That’s got a beautiful depth and complexity – really broad finishing – that’s an impressive finish. Another very superior wine!
2022 Chablis 1er l’Homme Mort
The ‘small volume wines’ here all see 100% wood elevage – the rest of the 1ers are more like 20-30%.
There’s a bit of barrel aroma here as part of a good aromatic volume. Hmm, the shape and fresh concentration in the mouth is lovely. Really wide and persistent too. This will be another super wine but wait 2-3 years for the oak to fade.
Also a hint of barrel but here is a wonderful depth of more mineral aroma – it’s lovely. Incisive, complex, mobile flavour – clarity, minerality – all that I’m looking for. Bravo – complete (Chablis!) wine!
In the triangle at the centre of MdT
Hmm – that’s also a super nose – a little wider, a little less mineral – but no less inviting. Supple, mobile and fluid – again – some additional concentration for this wine. Broad, complex, caramel – keep at least 2 years – but that’s an excellent wine, maybe even better.
2022 Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
Two parcels Chablis and Fleys side. The only one of this series not yet bottled.
Here is a nose of larger scale – yet still fine and airy. Scale in the mouth too – the largest of these wines – the concentration less overt than the Tonnerre – wide waves of finishing flavour. Delicious, less oaked but also a little less personality than the last too – I’m splitting hairs here – it’s still an excellent wine.
2022 Chablis Bougros
Higher in Bougros next to Preuses
Some aromatic weight with a lovely clarity of riper citrus. Cool fruit energy, the oak not too much, the energy is fine. Some intensity of principally citrus and their bitters in the finish – that’s a great finish. Tons of character – I love it.
2022 Chablis Blanchots
A broader nose with lots of complexity too but not quite focused today. Cool, wide and also with fine intensity but here more of a width than a linear impression. A hint of wood warmth in the large and more mineral finish – less ready today but with some impressive parts.
2022 Chablis Les Clos
From the top of the Clos – two suppliers
Here’s a nose that’s somewhat intermediate between the previous two wines – not quite ready but more-so than the Blanchots! In the mouth, cool, fluid and a wine of scale. Great finishing with a persistent width of impressive citrus bitters and their energy. Certainly an excellent grand cru!
Less forward but here’s a considered and engaging width of aroma – partly floral, partly mineral. Classy, mouth-filling with cool shape and growing complexity. Rather an elegant Preuses despite the volume it shows. The widest and longest finishing of these so far – a properly great finish. Potentially a great wine
2022 Chablis Château Grenouilles
A faint spice and a suggestion of green citrus to go with the yellow. Really broad over the palate – energy, minerality and an almost textured depth of flavour. Intense finishing again. Such a baby – the finish shrinks faster than some but then holds just as long. Such potential again!