Tasted in Chablis with Vincent Dauvissat, 14 January 2016.
Domaine Vincent Dauvissat
8 rue Emile Zola
89800 Chablis
Tel: +33 3 86 46 11 58
Vincent on 2015:
“The hail was a bad souvenir, we were badly touched; almost all the crus, the worst of which were over 50% hailed. Overall we lost approaching half the volume.
“On paper, everything was ripe, but really it merited another week on the vines. Lots of people are satisfied because of the rain – where not hailed. Acidities are modest and the malic is low so let’s see.”
Vincent on 2014:
“Another low volume, this time due to poor flowering, brought on by the heat of the Pentecost weekend. September brought the nice maturity and a certain classic nature, here we have a little more wine than in 14 as our 15s was so hail-affected.”
The wines…
Two cuvées were bottled last week, so Vincent preferred to leave these in the quiet, to the rest, so they were not shown.
In 14 a single parcel – have added another parcel after but in the same terroir next to the first. Probably between 45-50 hl/ha here – there was a north wind that dried the grapes a little which ‘penalised the Grand crus and petit Chablis’
A fresh slightly sweetened green fruit. A good silky texture here, a hint of savoury character, supple and with a great concentration for the label, lovely intensity in the middle that flows in fine line. Excellent, really…
2014 Chablis
Near to the 1er Cru Fôrets – north-west plus a little with a south-facing vines. 0.3 ha in 1.8 with white soil and a little more wind.
Majority looking towards Forets plus 2 others Poinchy and Derriere Les Clos, not far from the Petit Chablis. The Forets with lots of character, the others less so.
Here is a nose of width and a modest salinity. More layered, modestly mineral but further extended with a twist of saline. Slowly adding a slighter sweeter dimension to the acidity. Long, lingering flavour, really long – a super wine.
2 parcels, but next to each other.
High tones, a little mineral vibration, a flash of kerosene reduction but then it’s gone. Really silky, wide, mouth-watering – gorgeously – flavour. Contemplative complexity, really super. Love really a special length.
From Chatains and Beugnons.
A more subtle, delicate nose. Cooler fruit, more mineral, wide, clarity and purity of expression, I imagine ice-cubes and steel in my mouth. Growing intensity – finally some fruit, there’s something agrume to the finishing flavour. Great, mineral, classic Chablis!
Also a very subtle aromatic, here with a more floral expression. Like the Vaillons, this is really a wide, mineral, steely expression of Chablis. From the mid-palate the flavours seem to melt a little and become more friendly, and silky, flowing over the palate. Layers of finishing flavour, this is super – really the finish best differentiates the Vaillons and the Forêts today. Another clear winner!
From 7 differnt parcels ‘makes the chance to bring a nice synthesis of the vineyard.’
Tight, but there’s a nice fresh vibrancy to the nose; a modest addition of white fleshed fruit too. A certain opulence, beautiful texture, clean-lined minerality – size without form, slowly melting over the tongue (again!) less overt energy but really more volume. A widening of clean flavour as you swallow that only very, slow fades. Really this is a tight wine today, showing very little of the bravado on the palate of some others – but be patient – clearly there’s much to wait for!
And as a treat:
2009 Chablis 1er Forêts
Tight, some discreet savoury development. A certain opulence to the texture, very mineral, layered falvour, volume too, another dimension of flavour opening out over the mid-palate – I know the vintage, but guess grand cru because of the extra flavour dimension – it’s a worthy grand cru. Yum!