Tasted in Fleys with Eve and Jean-Pierre Grossot, 16 January 2018.
Corinne et Jean-Pierre Grossot
4 route de Mont de Milieu
89800 Fleys
Tel: +33 3 86 42 44 64
www.chablis-grossot.com
Eve on 2017:
“In 2017 we had frost for 8 nights – we lit some candles in Mont de Milieu and other places but we weren’t really that well equipped. The rest of the year including the flowering went well. At harvest we had a good combination of acidity and ripeness – it looks really a nice vintage but with only half the volume unfortunately.”
Eve on 2016:
“2016 was a bad year. We were 50% frosted, and then there was also a little hail at the end of the vintage. The rain in May and June required so much effort, with so many treatments – in the end we exited bio though probably too late. What was left was then a little grilled by the sun in August! In the end about 75%(!) was lost – it was a year for growing white hair! In terms of vinifications all went well – a large part we did without added yeast – we are of course low in volume with a return of about 15-16 hl/ha so even less than in 2017. As there was so little wine, there is no cuvee ‘Part des Anges’ in 2016, and a little more oak was used in 2016 only because they had the same number of barrels but less wine.”
The wines…
Diam 5 remains the closure of choice here.
A strong range of wines here that are more pure and classic that ripe – recommended.
2016 Chablis
Usually from 13 hectares of vines. Bottled in October.
A quite an open nose that has just a hint of herb but is more about a yellow citrus fruit. Bright and with lots of volume – a leading edge of acid then a more relaxed but nicely intense middle and finish – more layered in the finish – very nice.
2016 Chablis 1er Fourchaume
A little less aromatic width but more depth and also a more overtly mineral stance too. Direct and intense, really plenty of intensity. Alive and exciting – this is super and full of energy!
2016 Chablis 1er Les Fourneaux
Some oak elevage partly in demi-muids, all old.
A good intensity of aroma – a little more lime-green shaded. Rounder in the mouth, intense but with layers, waves of fine flavour – this is my favourite so far, edged with a pretty salinity – complex and absolutely delicious – excellent wine.
2016 Chablis 1er Vaucoupin
Less overt but this is a pure nose with a saline accent. More compact, a style that’s more like the Fourchaume than the Fourneaux – with a little more direct, melting flavour – classically mineral and really long – achingly long, super but today the Fourneaux is more ‘giving.’
2015 Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
Usually half is vinified in tank, a little less in 2016.
A broader complexity with some floral references – a very faint oak spice here. Wide, vibrant, melting flavour – ooh super. There is some oak accent here which will take 12 months to fade, but what a delicious, complex, faintly saline wine. This is truly super – but needs a little patience if you prefer not to taste some oak – excellent again!
And for the road:
2013 Chablis 1er Mont de Milieu
Also a low volume vintage so needed to use as much oak as in 2016
A little reductive depth, faintly floral, slightly tight aromas. Also in the mouth but really with a super melting acidity, there is a touch of creaminess in the finish that is surely from the barrel, but otherwise there is no oak to show here just a very, very tasty and very mineral, long wine – a delicious burst of finishing flavour tops off the wine. Opening all the time with aeration the nose is becoming much more floral. Pure and fine – it’s not ‘typical’ for 2013 – but it is delicious.