Tasted in Tonnerre with Baudoin Millet, 12 January 2017.
Domaine Millet
Ferme de Marcault
Route de Viviers
89700 Tonnerre
Tel: +33 3 86 75 92 56
www.chablis-millet.com
Baudoin on 2016:
2016 was a horror. We have only 1/3 of a normal crop. Here was one of the epicentres of frost – and then we had the second wave of hail. 9 from 14 hectares was lost. At least, vs some of our neighbours we were spared much of the mildew – probably as we had so few grapes! The vintage will be hyper-complicated to commercialise as i have so little stock – almost zero. On the positive side, the grapes in the hands looked good though – let’s see after the malos, which are running really slowly just now.
Baudoin on 2015:
“The task with the 2015 was keeping the freshness – because I’m I always looking for the line and the purity.”
The wines…
Domaine Millet have 2 Petit Chablis cuvées; that appellation covering almost 80% of their exploitation. Their second Petit Chablis is a parcel selection that enjoys an extra long elevage on its lees.
All had small acid additions before fermentation – except La Perle – and the wines are without exception, delicious.
This wine sees elevage for the same length of time as the 1er cru. Normally it is bottled in June/July, but if there’s some commercial
Hmm, bright, fresh, faintly herbed, floral. Supple, rounded, some sucrosite, flowers again, really fine in the mouth, with ripe but fresh fruit. Delicious PC!
A later bottling with longer time on the lees. A quality clone that delivers a lower yield – – normally more round.
Fresh, more open, a little more mineral, but invitingly so. Supple weight, open, giving, sweetly mouth-watering wine. Again with a small floral aspect. Beautiful again!
2015 Chablis
Les floral, clearly more brightly mineral. Wide, a nice texture – almost tannin. Cool fruit and a more obviously saline in style. More rigorous, more classic Chablis. Needing just a little patience, but excellent!
2015 Chablis Vieilles Vignes
0.4 hectares of 60 year-old vines with a smaller yield – less tan 30 hl/ha. But same elevage as the last wine.
This nose is just faintly rounder and certainly more packed with info. Hmm. This has the floral aspect again – a beautifully mouth-watering wine with a sweet saline edge – it’s delicious again, and that’s despite more rigour in the finishing minerality. Bigger fruit in the finish too almost pear fruit.
2015 Chablis 1er Vaucoupin
1 hectare of vines.
Bright, wide, open and complex – there is the house style of the easy, inviting, faintly sweet and floral here too. Bright, clearly more intense, modestly saline, less modestly mineral, a little finishing rigour to the minerality. Super wine!
This label is for the bought grapes. One third new oak.
Big, bright and interesting – certainly plenty of oak too. Hmm, this is fabulously energetic and mouth-watering – a tour de force here. There is so much going on that it takes a while to register the oak in the mid-palate and finish – but I’m pretty sure this will be gone in 18-24 months. Super wine, and gorgeous drinking. There’s so much energy, its easy to miss the fine texture at the base.